Virtual Communication

We explain what virtual communication is and some examples. Its classification, main characteristics, advantages and disadvantages.

What is virtual communication?

Virtual communication is a type of communication emerged from the technological advances of the late 20th century. It consists of the use of digital tools that serve as a channel for sending a message.

The term virtual refers to the absence of material support for sending a message such as, for example, a letter. It can also refer to the lack of physical proximity between senders and receivers.

See also: Mass media

Examples of virtual communication

There are various ways to engage in virtual communications. Here are some examples:

• Email. It involves sending and receiving messages through a computer network. It has a very similar logic to that of traditional mail, with the advantage that it is immediate, often free and simultaneous. That is, you can send the same message to several people at the same time.
• Wikis. These are those platforms in which their content is made collaboratively as a result of teamwork. The most common example is Wikipedia, an encyclopedia that the users themselves create and correct, so that it can be consulted by any surfer.
• Blogs. It is another very common example within virtual communications. Here, its founder captures content and its readers can use it and comment on it. The key to a blog is that the information responds to the interests of its creator and is updated periodically.

Types of virtual communication

Within virtual communication there is a phenomenon that has to do with the formation of virtual communities. Among them, different types can be identified, such as:

• Discussion forums. They are open spaces for the discussion of specific topics, with the purpose of groups of common interests interacting by exchanging ideas, theories and opinions.
• Social networks. They are structures formed on the Internet by people or organizations that connect through common interests or values. Through them, relationships are created between individuals or companies quickly, without hierarchy or physical limits.
• Videoconferencing. They are communications that are established through video, bidirectionally and simultaneously. They are widely used tools to organize meetings between people who are in different places.
• BBS. BulletinboardSystemIt is software that was used to establish networks between computers. In this way, users could access information provided by the members of that network.

Features of virtual communication

Virtual communication and the communities that are formed around them are characterized by the following features:

• Links are established synchronously and achronically. This means that it can be real-time or delayed communication.
• It allows you to establish links with people from the most varied backgrounds but who have a common interest.
• The exchange of data and information can include the most varied formats: text, video, image, sound, photography, etc.
• The exchange of data and information can be bidirectional or multidirectional, depending on the cases.
• The relationships between members of the virtual community tend towards horizontality.
• Collaborative and teamwork occurs (and is encouraged).
• Its costs are very low.
• It facilitates learning and promotes the democratization of information.
• Encourages the active attitude of the actors.

Advantages and disadvantages of virtual communication

There are pros and cons around virtual communication and everything that is generated around it. That is why, below, a list is formulated with advantages and disadvantages to take into account:

• Advantages:
  • It allows people who have the same concerns and interests to meet and connect with each other, beyond physical distances.
  • It facilitates access to information linked to the most varied topics.
  • It encourages study, links, exchanges, collaborative work and even the purchase and sale of goods and services.
  • It allows access not only to information on the most varied topics, but also to the most diverse points of view on those topics. Break the biases.
  • Facilitates and encourages feedback as well as updating content.
  • Leave aside the barriers that have to do not only with time and space, but also those linked to social origin, gender, religion, age.
• Disadvantages:
  • Face-to-face ties are lost.
  • Anonymity generates impunity, which is why virtual communities often lend themselves to violence.
  • Overexposure is generated, which is why, many times, intimacy is reduced to a minimum.
  • There are cases in which private information of third parties is disseminated or privacy is violated to the point that crimes are recorded.
  • The personality of third parties can be impersonated for defamation.

References

• Virtual communication and interpersonal links in Roberttexto.
• Virtual community, on Wikipedia the free encyclopedia.
• Main characteristics of virtual learning communities in Virtual Learning Communities.