The Happenings of a Virtual Community
Reddit, a discussion website, is one of the Internet’s best known forums where individuals can “submit content such as text posts or direct links” in order to pursue a mutual interest (Reddit). Reddit has many of these forums on different topics that range from ‘weird eggs’ to ‘birds with arms’ that are referred to as communities. These communities are virtual communities. In other words, they are social networks where individuals of different origin and background interact through geographic and political bounds to discuss and interact around a mutual interest or topic.
I observed the Reddit community for Cats, and found that the Reddit community for cats is used for a multitude of purposes from honoring a lost cat, to mocking their own cat for a silly instance, or even to just post cat memes. With all of these posts, even though members of the community may not know each other personally, but as just a username, they will comment and show support in many ways. For those who are mourning the passing of a loved one, community members post support, and those posting something funny, community members comment back with smart, and generally funny remarks. Below is a comic that depicts 3 different individuals from around the world who use Reddit’s platform to interact with their own virtual communities.
