In the literature, the focus has so far mostly been on the structure and behaviour of the virtual communities themselves. Quite understandably so, since first we needed to have a basic understanding of what this complex phenomenon means before we could ask the next question: where do virtual communities live?
It is often taken for granted that communities only make use of standard, text-based communication tools, like mailing lists, newsgroups, or webfora. This is a very primitive form of community space, a kind of a two-dimensional Flatland if you will. These tools do not offer much functionality beyond direct one-to-one or one-to-many interactions, and maybe some archiving and indexing options. However, exciting new developments in hard- and software as well as high-speed Internet-connections, allow for a totally different community experience.
This is best exemplified by the incredible growth of the videogame industry. When marrying communities with true virtual worlds, communities will get a totally new way of expression, interaction, and production. Last year's "The State of Play: Law, Games, and Virtual Worlds" conference sketched a fascinating picture of how societies and communities may benefit professionally, politically, and in many other ways, from the 3D-technologies rapidly becoming ubiquitous. Be warned, I will say much more about this dimension of virtual communities in future posts.
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