Abstract:

There are three types of virtual communities (VCs): communities of interest, virtual learning communities, and VCs of practice (VoP). In addition, the principle of ``sense of VC" (SoVC), in which the dynamics of and within VCs are taken into consideration, is important for community building and can facilitate both online and offline community organization. Online communities form for a need, and as long as the need is filled by that community, it is maintained. Some communities fall out of relevance, and others bog down from the addition of monetizing click-through ads - any search for a dinner recipe will find sites that originally may have been useful, but their advertisements bog them down into meaningless pop-up content.

The current pandemic has accelerated the use of virtual communities in the employment market, as companies and employers such as Microsoft, Dell, Cisco, Facebook, and Salesforce all offer free online training and communities of customers, employees and users to support the larger stakeholder interest of those who invest in their products and services. On these platforms, users are able to establish a profile, upload an image of themselves or an avatar, and have a report card that shows their accomplishments as they participate in the training process. Employers can quickly search among these users to find skilled workers; this has improved remote employment opportunities for technology and knowledge workers. Some Communities of Practice, such as computer programmers, use Stack Overflow and the subreddit r/Askprogramming to share solutions, and upvote and downvote each other's suggestions. Badges of accomplishment are offered to gamify the environment. To win the quantum computing badge of QISKIT Advocate, awarded by IBM, the applicant must present three posts given on their SLACK community channel of helpful information to others learning about these new types of computers.

The use of a quickly created virtual community, especially one that includes the mediation moderation of SoVC, can also handle a social purpose, such as support during the hardships experienced during the summer of 2020. As the turbulence of worldwide social justice movements started to subside, Pace University quickly formed and thoughtfully programmed a week of social justice virtual programming in October, a response that met academic community needs of alumni, students, faculty and staff to share feelings and experiences on the topics. This event was such a success that in 2021, more than 100 people throughout the university volunteered to be on the 2021 Planning Committee and participate. The Planning Committee was so unwieldy from the enthusiasm that it has been divided into four sub-committees. For the students, especially, feeling heard and listening to each other creates a positive image about the university as well as themselves, and the level of engagement means the content is more meaningful to them. A current job posting for a Python Programming teaching position asked that the applicants put in their cover letter "an answer to the following questions: (1) How has diversity and inclusion played a part in your career? (2) How would you bring that insight into your position at the college?" Those who participated in the Social Justice Week at our university, even if only by being in the audience and thoughtful, have an answer ready at hand to meet the future work environment.

Keywords:

Virtual Communities, Virtual Learning Communities, SoVC, Social Justice, VCs of Practice (VoP), Communities of Interest.