Virtual Community- Rheingold

The reading The Virtual Community by Howard Rheingold had very valid points about communication through the Internet. Rheingold had said ”Although I am enthusiastic about the liberating potentials of computer-mediated communications, I try to keep my eyes open for the pitfalls of mixing technology and human relationships.” He believed that many people spend hours online at a time with a false persona just to relieve their problems or escape from reality. People used communicating on the Internet as a form of psychotherapy. One would rely on certain relationships that they have formed through the Internet to talk and confide in.

I believe that match.com is a great example. Many people go on match.com to find others to talk to and even start a relationship with. I know many of people who are members of match.com. For example, my cousin was a member of match.com. He used it for about a year and then found someone that he had been constantly talking to and connecting with. For a while he only spoke to her through the use of the Internet, after they got closer they exchanged e-mails and spoke a lot. They seemed compatible and got along very well. They had a lot of the same interests and hobbies; they would spend hours at a time talking online. Finally, it came time for them to meet in person. They met in person and their relationship just wasn’t the same. They weren’t compatible for each other and he said, “We didn’t have much in common as I thought we did.” They ended up remaining good friends however, never met again in person. They still speak online all the time; just they weren’t compatible for each other as spouses. This website lets people interact with others of the same age and interests. It lets people find out about each other while interacting through the Internet. On this site people talk and get to know each other. People communicate and look through others pictures. Being a member of Match.com is a form of psychotherapy, where people form relationships and then depend on these people to speak to through online.