The Benefits of Being Part of an Online Community

Besides the obvious benefit of being a part of something larger and thus getting the human desire of social interaction met, being a part of an online community can offer many other benefits. These benefits include such things as access to a great wealth of knowledge, links and information on new websites, developing friendships and relationships, and of course killing time instead of writing that important paper or project spreadsheet.

As humans we strive for human contact and now with technology around us such as cell phones and the internet it seems almost absurd that not so long ago our ability to interact and communicate with others was limited, not instant, and surely not as worldly as it is now. Social networking and online communities help us not only stay in touch with those already in our lives, but reach out and interact with other people who have similar interests, beliefs, orientations, and so forth. People have credited an online community they've belonged to for everything from finding love and finding faith to finding a one night stand or a used car.

Human interaction and socializing aside, online communities also have helped us as a consumer based society better connect seller with buyer both on the individual level and the corporate level. With social networking came the idea of ad based communities, where in exchange for free access to all other members and all the cool interactions we can have with them, we are faced with countless ads, many are useless to us but a few introduce us to new things we didn't know we needed or enjoyed yet. On the flip-side pay to belong online communities have helped others avoid all those ads and other people they aren't interested in and hone in on creating relationships with those similar to them in a quicker and more private fashion.