Technology has changed the way we communicate and how we participate in communities. While politicians and policy pundits worry about fragmented communities offline, and propose Big Society initiatives to bolster social interaction, many communities seem to be thriving virtually. So can cybervillages rebuild social cohesion? Great claims are made for ‘e-communities’: they can banish loneliness; chat-rooms can replace clubs as places to communicate with new and old friends - even better, they don’t have the restrictions of opening hours or geographical barriers. Communities of interest may well mean the end of ‘the only gay in the village’ syndrome, while those facing illness can seek out tips for coping from other sufferers rather than relying on official and impersonal medical advice. And if ‘cotton-wool kids’ are too often restricted from playing outdoors unsupervised, many now form peer communities of adventurers in multiplayer online games like World of Warcraft. Over 33% of internet users in Britain now post messages on discussion or message boards, as opposed to 16% in 2007. Meanwhile, ‘clicktivists’ have been credited with fuelling a resurgence in protest, using blogs and Twitter to bring down governments in the Middle East and bust super-injunctions closer to home. It is even said digital communities can enhance business opportunities: Clay Shirky talks of communities of practice, whose members collaborate to innovate, make better products and improving skills. Product managers, entrepreneurs and advertisers now invest in building communities around brands as a way of increasing sales, loyalty and customer satisfaction.

But it could be argued that while enhancing some forms of community, technology has had a more negative effect on others? The web affords a cloak of anonymity, not possible in ‘real life’, meaning exchanges online can seem more heated, abusive and uncivil. There are regular media stories about cyber jihadists, iNazis and other ‘online communities of hate’ who use the virtual world to meet fellow bigots, and target those they despise. Or what of the community of hacker-activists such as Anonymous, who have launched cyber-war against multinational corporations? Do the now regular twitch-hunts and twitterstorms launched by the Twitterati community constitute a positive development or a nasty dark side of online ‘mob-rule’? Professor Sherry Turkle, author of the influential Alone Together has suggested society has begun to exhibit ‘pathological’ tendencies, our addiction to social media making us ‘less human’. Even the Pope has warned of the dangers of becoming increasingly alienated in the online world.

Are ‘old’ and ‘new’ forms of community so very different, and if so, what are the pros and cons of each? Can technologies be used to enhance the opportunity for online and offline social exchange? If modern societies have undermined traditional ties of family, solidarity and commonality, can online communities become a new force for sociability and solidarity?

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