Christianity On-line Essay -- Personal Narrative Communities Essays

Christianity On-line On-line communities are a foreign concept to me. I have never joined one, or even been curious to see what they are like. The only experience I have had with them is in middle school when I used to go into chat rooms and talk to other teens. The only conversation involved there was about music and movies. It has been years since I have ventured into anything on-line except for checking my e-mail or downloading music. In order to write about on-line communities, the assignment given to the class I am in, I had to go on-line and explore the culture myself. Since I had no idea what server to use or what sites were popular, the task was a little daunting. The first thing I looked at was " The Lost Library of Moo ," a site I went to because it was a resource tool listed on the Website for my English class. We had looked at it once before in class to practice navigating it. The only thing I got from the site was that the pictures were pretty and interesting. I did not understand the purpose of it or how to play games that were available. Even reading the introduction and summary of what the site was about confused me. It talked about making verbs written in the language of Moo and virtual reality. The concept of Moo had never been clearly explained to me, so trying to figure the site out on my own was not getting me anywhere. The site is categorized as a MUD or MOO, which is designed to be an educational tool. I was getting discouraged because I could not even understand the directions. The site also talked about signing on to the server and being a "character." I did not even know how to maneuver a game; creating a charact er for it was not even an option for me. Since I was totally l... ...manner. It is easy for people with common interests to meet and exchange views. A person is able to cut through normal small talk that is involved when first meeting someone else, and ask direct questions about the topic known to be important to both of them. On-line communities offer a sense of belonging right away. That is why Christianity or any religion often becomes popular sites with active discussion boards. A topic that is carefully worded to be politically correct when talked about in person, can be discussed frankly when using a screen name. It allows people to be comfortable enough to share their feelings and show their ignorance without worrying about repercussions. I support on-line discussion boards, even though it takes away from face-to-face interaction, something that is necessary when building a solid relationship with another person.