What exactly is a Virtual Community? Everything You Should Know

Virtual communities are thriving with people from all over the globe come together for a connection with brands, creators, and even friends. In this piece we'll give you all the information you should learn about the place where virtual communities come from, and also what they're used for. We'll cover:

• What a virtual community is & key characteristics.        
  
• The benefits of online communities.        
  
• The business of online communities.        
  
• A history of virtual communities.        
  
• A few examples of virtual communities.        
  

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What is a virtual community?

A virtual community is comprised by a collection of individuals who share a shared interest or motivation. They get together in a dedicated digital space and can make bonds with one another, use each others' stories and experience to help propel progress and build meaningful relationships.

The communities usually are run by a creator or host who outlines the reasons and how the members develop connections with one another in trying to learn some thing that is interesting to them all.

Within a virtual community the members benefit from the connections they make between themselves. This difference -- the ability of members to develop connections with one anotherthis is what differentiates virtual communities apart from audiences of social media platforms and those who subscribe to email newsletters.

The term "virtual community" can be used in conjunction in conjunction with "online community" (and they're essentially the same thing).

Characteristics of a virtual community

Virtual communities all require at least three components:

1. The  creator(s). This is the person or individuals who bring the community together with an initial idea, establish up the community website to get discussions moving.      
   
2. Members. People who are joined around a shared interest or motive. Each member brings an element of value to the group through their expertise, experience and perspectives to the group.    
   
3. A community-based online platform. A digital platform where a virtual community's creator and members gather to study something vital collectively. A reliable online community site will offer you features to organize discussion groups, host events, charge for memberships, build live streams, subgroups and even build and sell classes!    
   

However, we could include a second list of features that each virtual community shares:

• Goals and interests shared A virtual community is formed by sharing a common Big Goal. It's not an exception. Because in order for people to attend, be engaged, and create material, there needs to be something to gain out of it. Sometimes, it's just being near people who have similar interests. Sometimes, it's about a transformation they'd like to achieve. They may also be able to find conversations that aren't available anywhere else.      
  
• Communication: All communities need a communication framework as well. Often it's based on text (e.g. a discussion forum), but communication can include videos and livestreaming photos, virtual events, GIFs, and pretty much any other kind of human-to-human communication.      
  
• Content created by users: Lastly, every virtual community needs the content created by users. It's what makes a community increase and expand (and it's also why the social media followers aren't an actual one). ).    
  

The benefits of virtual communities

Here are a few advantages of using virtual communities, and many of them you'll never find on the traditional community!

• Making connections with people that you would not otherwise get to meet, creating real-world social networks all over the world (a following isn't the same as a social network. It's broadcasting). As they're not restricted to geography, virtual communities can nourish an array of members, living memories, and views.    
  
• Progressing, learning, and growing, gaining value from those who view things differently and work differently in their worlds (network theory Mark Granovetter described these as " weak ties. ")      
  
• Fighting loneliness and creating connections from any time, encouraging health and well-being.        
  
• Participating in the community of practice to improve your networking and professional development.        
  
• Open new possibilities for collaboration and sharing creativity.        
  
• Growth of members organically If you're seeking increase in membership, communities on the internet can develop naturally as members connect with one another and share the news to their circle of friends.        
  
• Connectivity that is real. Don't fall for the trap offered by the term "virtual." Online communities offer a wonderful opportunity to grow real, rich connections with others from all over the world.        
  
• Personal growth: For groups that are focused on learning and growth by sharing experiences together with other people gives you accountability and people cheering you on.        
  
• Conversations right in your pocket. With a community app like  that, you'll have the power of connectivity right into your pocket.        
  
• Recurring revenue: Communities online with a paid dues for membership generate monthly income for hosts.      
  
• Centralized business: A community that is virtual can bring together all the elements of an online business, from memberships to courses to live activities.        
  

Types of communities that are virtual

Here are some (not all) of the kinds of online communities:

• Wellness and health: formed around subjects like eating right or getting fit.      
  
• Personal growth: formed by personal growth and mastery, you can progress towards your goals.      
  
• Hobbies are a result of sharing the love of a hobby (e.g. knitting, quilting, photography).    
  
• Entrepreneurship or careers: formed around career mastery and entrepreneurs working together.      
  
• Mastering skills: formed around the development of a new skill (e.g. the art of marketing or programming ).    
  
• Religious or spiritual practice: formed by the desire for spiritual or religious growth or community.      
  
• healing: members sharing challenges, or perhaps suffering (e.g the battle against Postpartum Depression).      
  

Within these diverse types of community, there may be some variation. Some can have as few than 10 people (like a micro-community) Others have memberships in the thousands. There are virtual communities that are free, but others charge fees for access. However, regardless of the format it is common for them to be integrated with a membership as well as an online class and mastermind groups, and a lot more.

The enterprise of virtual communities

Virtual communities tap into the common humanity of us all, however they also hold a huge opportunities for business. A virtual community creates an environment of vision shared however, it also forms the kind of thing Charles Tilley calls a "trust network." A trust network refers to an online social network that is shared generates trust. It is what economists call an "institution"--or simply English, people can do business with a community since they feel safe and trust the other.

Virtual communities are growing into huge enterprises, earning 6-, 7-, and even 8-figures in revenues per year. This is because members come together for an unifying goal, have faith in those who are in charge and are looking for chances to develop and gain knowledge. Communities can offer memberships, courses, events, coaching, masterminds, as well as all kinds of other high-ticket or low-ticket merchandise.

However, it can also make the virtual community valuable to brands  for their use as spaces for building loyalties and engaging customers.

The has led to a new business model called"the Community Flywheel  that is being referred to as the business model to rule the next decade.

A history of virtual communities

1960s-70s

• Douglas Engelbart was a pioneer in the infrastructure for virtual communities. He was intrigued by how technology could enhance human intellect. His Augmentation Research Center held a demo of the first video conference in the year 1968. In addition, his laboratory came up with many of the ideas that virtual communities rely on to this day.    
  
• It was ARPANet (Advanced Research Projects Agency) was an integral part of the U.S. Defense Department and used phone lines to link various agencies across the country. The network expanded and diversified beyond Pentagon agencies to encompass civilian and academic elements. Joseph Carl Robnett Licklider was credited with seeing the potential to create a human networks (instead of just military) However, the spirit of innovation and freedom of ideas the network embraced led to significant breakthroughs. ARPANet ran until around 1990.    
  
• The PLATO system allowed users to connect via the internet via a message board.      
  

1980s-90s

• In 1984, artists Kit Galloway and Sherrie Rabinowitz joined five LA restaurants and an art gallery through an online video link. The people in these locations could interact in real time. Social philosopher Gene Youngblood called the project an "virtual community" (becoming the first person to coin the phrase). Youngblood's concept of"a "virtual community" saw tech and human creativity mixing and has helped in the creation of the idea of a virtual community that we have today.    
  

"Kit and Sherrie provide context, not content. An artist can enter the environment they design and create content that is now empowered and revived in a way that could not have been empowered without the context these two people have created." -Gene Youngblood - Electronic Cafe    

• The WELL (Whole Earth's Electronic Link) (1985) was an online platform based on text that was used by intellectuals, writers, and tech fans. Additionally, there were early online discussion forums like Quantum Link and UseNet.    
  
• Habitat (Created by Lucasfilm Games) launched in 1986. It was a graphic virtual environment that pitted players against one another at first.      
  
• In 1987, American journalist Howard Rheingold wrote an article in the Whole Earth Review that would be the first to popularize the concept of "Virtual community." He followed that with a 1993 publication titled The Virtual Community: Homesteading on the Electronic Frontier which went deeper into virtual communities as well as the subcultures they could create.    
  
• In the 1990s, there were also first chat rooms that were popular, online bulletin boards, as well as messaging platforms: Internet Relay Chat (IRC), Usenet bulletin boards, AOL Instant Messenger, ICQ, and compuserve forums. These were all distinct developments in forums, messaging, and chat. They would eventually become the main elements of today's community-based platform.    
  

2000-10s

• A plethora of new possibilities with new software for internet connections and creativity. instant messaging, blogs, RSS feeds, wikis Photo-sharing community (e.g., Flickr) and massively multiplayer online gaming (e.g., Lineage, World of Warcraft), and immersive virtual worlds (e.g. Second Life).        
  
• The growth of social media ranging from Friendster (2002), MySpace (2003), and LinkedIn (2003) to Facebook (2004), YouTube (2005), and Twitter (2006). Each platform created new ways of social networking, and established the tone for future online communities.    
  
• Social networks keep on with new and exciting features like private groups, sharing photos as well as livestreaming.        
  
• Introduced of private community messaging and chat platforms: Ning (2005), Slack (2013), Discord (2015), Teams (2017).        
  

2020s

• It's only the beginning but the 2020s have already transformed virtual communities. The advent of AI and ChatGPT has already changed what's feasible for virtual communities. This could include the mass creation of content, however, that's just the beginning. The future is in virtual communities that are hosted by AI which means that AI can automate and streamline the administrative tasks, leaving humans in a community free to create and connect.      
  

Examples of a virtual community

• Wealth Without Wall Street is an online membership platform run by financial advisers Russ Morgan and Joey Mure. Through their community of virtual friends, Russ, Joey, and their team coach people to develop your own bankers, create an income that is passive, and achieve financial security without having to depend on the stock market. The members also get access to online classes mastermind group discussions, mastermind sessions, as well as regular live Q&As from experts from the world of finance.    
  
• LuvvNation, a virtual group curated by author and podcaster Luvvie Ajayi, functions as a safe digital space for her socially conscious fans. The members have a variety of ways to meet, which include online courses, challenges, and live virtual events.    
  
• Wanderful is a membership community that connects solo women travelers all over the world. The founder is Beth Santos, Wanderful provides its members with live webinars, educational modules, virtual events and free entry to live chapter events, and much more.    
  

Do you want to establish an online community?

If you'd like to start building your own community online, come start with Mighty! The trial is free for 14 days and comes with the best community features, including discussions, livestreaming, virtual events, member profiles, chat and messaging. Our AI community assistant called Mighty Co-Host(tm) is able to establish a community quickly and help you make valuable connections by making landing pages, course outlines as well as other. The community can be charged in 135 different currencies, or you can even make money through token-gating.

Now Read: How to Create a Virtual Community in 6 Easy Steps