Topic 5: Online Communities Press F5 to view! GCSE ICT Revision Topic 5: Online Communities Press F5 to view!

Online Communities An online community is a group of people who meet up online. These include blogs, social networking sites, VLEs, wikis, forums and virtual worlds. Each type of online community has different: Functions – the reasons for the community Features – the things users can do in that community Target Audiences - who they’re aimed at. Most online communities require users to have an online account with a username and password.

Online Workspaces and VLEs Online workspaces provide an online community for people who work together. Virtual Learning Environments (VLEs) provide an online community for a group of people who learn together. VLEs are online spaces where teachers can share resources with students and students can access them from school or at home. Some VLEs let students see their timetables and reports too.

Example Question: State three ways a team could use an online workspace to work collaboratively. (3 marks) They can all work on one document at the same time. They can hold a virtual meeting using online chat. They can use VoIP.

Social Networks A social networking site is an online community where people are linked together using their personal information. There are lots of social networking sites available, each with their own functions and target audiences. Linkedin, for example, is aimed at business people with advice given by industry experts. Bebo is aimed at younger teens with areas for gaming and music videos.

Social Networking Advantages Easy to create a personal page. Easy way to keep in touch with people. Easy to make new friends with similar interests. Often free to join and use. Easy to share media with many people at once – videos, pictures etc. Moderators sometimes help to prevent inappropriate posting.

Social Networking Disadvantages Some people create fake profiles. Loss of privacy / privacy issues. Online bullying. GPS tagging can be a risk to users’ safety if their location is given away.

Reference Sites (User edited) A user-generated reference site allows users to contribute and share information. Wikipedia is an example of one of these. Users can add or edit content. These websites are good because the information on them is usually very up to date. They often contain a lot of information too. People can, however, add biased, inaccurate or untrue information. The information on these sites can also become disorganised and include errors or duplication.

Social Bookmarking Sites Social bookmarking websites are similar to wikis but users add bookmarks/weblinks instead of content then share these with others. Pinterest is an example of one of these sites – users organise and share images they like on the web on their own ‘pinboards’.

Impact on Working Practices Online communities have changed people’s working lives. Some workers can telecommute and work from home. They no longer need to live close to where they work. Cloud computing allows workers to access documents and software from anywhere they can get online. Decisions can be made effectively through an online work space. Employers can research potential employees through social networking sites.

Impact on Working Practices There are some negatives though; People now avoid face to face contact and email people who are just a few desks away. Workers without an Internet connection may feel left out of the decision making process.

Socialising Socialising is about how you get along with others. The Internet means that people can keep in contact easily and messages can be sent 24/7. People do, however, need an Internet connection to keep in touch and socialise online. Some people can pretend to be someone they’re not, this is made easier with the Internet. Some people spend less time with their real friends because they socialise online.

Acceptable Use Policies When you set up an online account you are asked to agree to the rules given in an acceptable use policy. Breaking the rules will result in your online account being withdrawn. These policies are similar to the one you see when you log-on to a school computer and have to agree to the terms of use that are shown on the blue and white screen.

Globalisation ICT and the Internet have sped up globalisation. It is now easy to make purchases from all over the world at any time of the day. Some companies have ‘gone global’ with the help of ICT and the Internet. Some countries now censor or control access to social networking sites and search engines to help them control access to information.