Introduction
A community refers to a group of individuals belonging to different species who live together sharing a number of resources such as the same environment. Among the human population, a community is identified as having similar beliefs, intent, needs and sharing the same resources hence creating a certain degree of cohesiveness which enables the community to live together. There are different types of communities which are categorized according to various aspects that are unique to the groups such as the geography, culture and form of organization. This paper aims at critically comparing the various types of communities namely the gated community and the internet community which is the latest addition to the categories of communities that are evident in any region and especially in China.
Discussion
The gated communities
These gated communities are geographically defined as they are concentrated in specific regions in the urban locality of China. Most of these gated communities are inclined towards a middle class lifestyle which is indicated by presence of a comfortable lifestyle. The gated community is built by the middle income earners who have opted for an enclosed neighborhood where everyone is comfortable in their own way of life. The planned neighborhood which makes up the gated community provides a sort of seclusion from the entire population thus very little interactions are witnessed between the gated community and the other members of society (Pow, 2009).
There are also various other gated communities which are more posh or less comfortable as the middle class gated communities is in China. These are the enclosed slums and the high class communities which are distinguished by the availability or resources and the degree of something for the scarce resources. In this enclosed communities the slums are depicted as homes for people with low incomes who are aiming at meeting their daily needs by living in low income areas. The slum dwellers participate in community building after being influenced by the self sustaining enclosed communities of the middle and high class residents. This nature of influence makes individuals who are in the same salary bracket to live together as their needs and economic levels are the same hence cohesion is attained while conflicts are reduced significantly (Pow, 2009).
However, this has been a source of motivation for other social classes to develop similar communities which are segregated. Such have been made possible by the fact that the members of the community are comfortable in the enclosed neighborhood where they get to share the available resources while practicing good communal characteristics which have been a major challenge of most enclosed societies. The influence of the gated communities to individuals living outside is great especially where social organization is concerned. This is because society does not appreciate individuals who live in seclusion as if avoiding interactions with other individuals. This is considered as a bad social habit as human beings being social creatures are bound to live in groups especially where others are presently living so that they can be included in the mainstream way of life (Pow, 2009).
The internet community
The internet also referred to as the virtual community is not bound by geographical or political boundaries as its virtual nature is made possible by the media that binds the community together. Social networking services are among the most widely recognized internet communities which is an example of a virtual community. The participants or population in the internet community are bound together not by social class but by their goals and hobbies which enable them to make friends, as well as, coexist in the community. This is a big contrast with the gated communities in China which are brought together by similarity in the economic perspective, as well as, the same preferences or needs in the area.
Similarly, the members of the gated community are found in the same geographical region hence all the community members are from the same country or they work in the same place thus they share so many similarities. The virtual communities however, are made up of individuals from diverse cultures and nationalities. This makes the virtual community an international community that does not adhere to political and physical boundaries hence getting a face to face encounter with the other members of the community may be a major challenge (Kim, 2000).
These virtual communities are connected by the World Wide Web or the internet which enables them to communicate and share views regarding their daily lives. Therefore, the role or intent of the internet community is to share their thoughts and experiences through communication. The inability to meet physically does not interfere with the cohesive nature of the community as each member is comfortable in the arrangement (Kim, 2000).
The virtual community is made up of individuals from all over the world who share common interests such as politics and sports. This is what avails the opportunity to join the community regardless of age, social status, income and nationality. However, the most fascinating aspect of the internet community is that the participants of the virtual community need not present their real details. This may encompass participants who have adopted strange or different names, faces and other details regarding their status. This way it is quite difficult to know the exact identity of the participants of the virtual community (Kim, 2000).
The virtual community has had a big influence on the individuals who are not part of the internet community as it is regarded as the most fashionable community at the moment. This has been one reason as to why ever since the inception of the internet community, millions of participants from all over the world have joined at least one of the social networking sites which make up the virtual community. The influence is achieved by engaging the non-members of the community in the talks about the benefits of sharing or communicating with individuals from different cultures hence making the member more knowledgeable. Similarly, the influence on non-community members has been attained due to the addictive aspect of the internet community activities hence curiosity has made other s join the community (Kim, 2000).
References
Kim, A.J.CommunityBuilding on the Web: Secret Strategies for Successful Online Communities. London: Addison Wesley (2000)
Pow, Choon-Piew. Gated communities in China: class, privilege and the moral politics of the good life. Vol. 7. Routledge, 2009.
