online communities
Web-based social spaces
Online communities are groups of people who interact primarily through the internet, gathering around shared interests, identities, or goals.
They form on forums, social media platforms, gaming servers, and other digital spaces where members discuss, collaborate, and build relationships without necessarily meeting in person.
She found support in online communities for rare disease patients.
The term emphasizes sustained connection rather than one-off interactions—regulars who recognize each other, shared norms, inside jokes.
- chatroomsOnline spaces for conversation
- forumsVenues for collective discourse
- comment sectionsOnline reply zones
- subredditsTopical forums within one site
- virtual worldsComputer-simulated interactive environments
moderators · social media · lurkers · wikis · cyberculture · safe spaces · memes · message boards · netiquette · user-generated content · knowledge bases · social networking · fan pages · viral posts · group chats · instant messaging · trolls · reply guys
- social spheressubcultures, countercultures
- digital culturesocial media, memes, hashtags, viral content, influencers
- digital societysocial networks, internet, digital age, internet culture, digital natives
- digital connectivityinternet, Wi-Fi, email, social media, video calls
- digital lifeapps, email, texting, web browsing, video calls
- online communitiesforum, discussion board, forums, message board, chat rooms
online communitiesneighborhood associations
Resident-run local governance bodies
town squares · residential communities · local clubs · tribal communities · civic organizations
online communitiessocial isolation
Lack of human contact
disconnection · solitude · atomization · loneliness · hermitage