Regina Munoz

Reaction paper on Anita Blanchard’s virtual behavior settings: An application of

behavior setting theories to virtual communities

Virtual communities are one of the new significant changes in our society as we become

more modernized. Virtual communities are a special phenomenon in a computer mediated

communication or the CMC Blanchard; for so many years CMC has expanded develop new sets

and mode of communication. And virtual communities have somehow lost the physical touch.

However virtual communities are not bad at all. It is somehow called community because there is

a shared relationship between participants.

These communities are understood as operating inside the rising environmental forms

called the virtual Behavior settings. There is a shared interaction among members and there is

that sense of peace. Since there is a so – called “place” a community is formed. Personally, the

face-to-face interaction is still more effective and efficient since we humans are relational

creatures and we prefer o share emotions and relationships with people we often see in flesh.

How can a person define community? Community often referred to a group of people

who share the same physical settings and people who share common interests. In community,

there is a sense of attachment, belonging, interaction and fulfillment – physically,

psychologically and emotionally. But virtually? Often than not, traditional people call it shallow.

But since our world and our community are run and mostly maneuvered by computers, emotions

are now apparent and common within virtual communities like that of virtual friendships,

marriages and divorce. And now a psychological sense of community for members is present

among the virtual world. Although virtual communities provide and fulfill specific and unique

needs among members and participants, I personally still believes that the needs meet are not

fully met satisfied. In our country, physical human interactions are necessary and a need. Yes,

we are so obsessed with social networking sites, but at the end of the day, we Filipinos preferred

physically-shared community rather than the virtually-shared one.

Virtual communities are stable groups of individuals who primarily interact among each

other over CMC and thus developed a sense of community. But some others have additional

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modes of interaction-communication like the face-to-face interaction over the telephone or postal

mails. These can be considered good. Since communication occurs over the computer,

information and relationship sharing must be more informative and elaborated that, I find

mentally taxing.

In every community inclusive of the virtual world, there are behaviors and are varied,

classified and analyzed. Behaviors depend on the group characteristics and can directly affect

interactions among members in the society, social-virtual groups. Researchers argued that

behaviors that are caused by the groups’ central theme do not affect interactions but I think that a

person’s reactions and behavior can affect interactions among the flow and norms in the

community. In the virtual community, the behavior to interaction reactions vary in reaction to

different flow of communication that of being synchronous and asynchronous.

I agree with Q. Jones in his archeological perspective on understanding virtual

communities. The less interaction, the less interactive, the minimalization of public

communication and sustained membership, the more virtual it becomes. Since there is less

physical interaction, participants and members develop a sense of mental creativity thus to cope

up and compensate the loss of physical objects and interactive human relations. This mental

creativity helps in setting participants understand what’s going on and can also help how they

virtually interact and react. Although creativity is developed, it only limits to the cognitive realm

rather than the physical one.

Virtual community is a 24/7 community. Easy access and open to everyone who wants to

join. A free “café” for everyone. And as what a physical community has, there is also a

hierarchical level of members. There are these “workers” who operates the important inhabitants,

has the most power but are subjected to mistakes, blames and corrections. The “leaders” that

stimulates the flow of communication-interaction and there are the “customers” too, the passive

people- the guests, customers and audience, lastly, the unwelcomed one- spectators and the

negatives.

Virtual communities are rapidly growing and expanding what’s more important for us

humans is to have that sense of physical touch-the human touch. It creates real shared emotions

and lasting relationships. No matter how modern the world is, we humans would always try and

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find ways to compensate the need to interact among others. The merging of the physical-

emotional interaction and the virtual-emotional interaction is one big step of developing

relationships. Though it’s beneficial the need to relate among other people is better off when we

can touch them and get to see their faces in a real and live environment.

Technology may have a way of improving life but it can never replace the sphere of what

human touch can do and change.