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==Introduction==
The traditional definition of a community is of geographically circumscribed entity (neighborhoods, villages, etc.). Virtual communities are usually dispersed geographically, and therefore are not communities under the original definition. Some online communities are linked geographically, and are known as community websites. However, if one considers communities to simply possess boundaries of some sort between their members and non-members, then a virtual community is certainly a community.<ref name="autogenerated1998">Pears, Iain. 1998. An Instance of the Fingerpost. London: Jonathan Cape.
</ref> Virtual communities resemble real life ''[[communities]]'' in the sense that they both provide support, information, friendship and acceptance between strangers.<ref>{{cite book |last=Wellman |first=B |year=1999 |title=
One of the most influential part about virtual communities is the opportunity to communicate through several media platforms or networks. Now that virtual communities exists, this had leveraged out the things we once did prior to virtual communities, such as postal services, fax machines, and even speaking on the telephone. Early research into the existence of media-based communities was concerned with the nature of [[virtual reality|reality]], whether communities actually could exist through the media, which could place virtual community research into the social sciences definition of ontology. In the seventeenth century, scholars associated with the [[Royal Society]] of London formed a community through the exchange of letters.<ref name="autogenerated1998"/> "Community without propinquity", coined by urban planner [[Melvin Webber]] in 1963 and "community liberated", analyzed by [[Barry Wellman]] in 1979 began the modern era of thinking about non-local community.<ref>Webber, Melvin. 1963. "Order in Diversity: Community without Propinquity." Pp. 23–54 in Cities and Space: The Future Use of Urban Land, edited by J. Lowdon Wingo. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins Press. Wellman, Barry. "The Community Question: The Intimate Networks of East Yorkers." American Journal of Sociology 84 (March 1979): 1201–31.</ref> As well, [[Benedict Anderson]]'s ''[[Imagined Communities]]'' in 1983, described how different technologies, such as national newspapers, contributed to the development of national and regional consciousness among early nation-states.<ref>Anderson, Benedict. 1991. Imagined Communities: Reflections on the Origin and Spread of Nationalism. London: Verso.</ref> Some authors that built their theories on Anderson's Imagined communities have been critical of the concept, claiming that all communities are based on communication and that virtual/real dichotomy is disintegrating, making use of the word "virtual" problematic or even obsolete.<ref>{{cite book|last=Prodnik|first=Jernej|title=Post-Fordist Communities and Cyberspace. In H. Breslow and A. Mousoutzanis (eds.), Cybercultures: Mediations of Community, Culture, Politics|year=2012|publisher=Rodopi: Amsterdam, New York.|pages=75–100|url=https://www.scribd.com/doc/111293835/Prodnik-Jernej-Post-Fordist-Communities-and-Cyberspace-A-Critical-Approach|access-date=17 September 2017|archive-date=5 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160305174341/https://www.scribd.com/doc/111293835/Prodnik-Jernej-Post-Fordist-Communities-and-Cyberspace-A-Critical-Approach|url-status=live}}</ref>
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Anyone can register to participate in an online message board. People can choose to participate in the virtual community, even if or when they choose not to contribute their thoughts and ideas. Unlike chat rooms, at least in practice, message boards can accommodate an almost infinite number of users.
Internet users' urges to talk to and reach out to strangers online is unlike those in real-life encounters where people are hesitant and often unwilling to step in to help strangers. Studies have shown that people are more likely to intervene when they are the only one in a situation. With Internet message boards, users at their computers are alone, which might contribute to their willingness to reach out. Another possible explanation is that people can withdraw from a situation much more easily online than off. They can simply click exit or log off, whereas they would have to find a physical exit and deal with the repercussions of trying to leave a situation in real life. The lack of status that is presented with an online identity also might encourage people, because, if one chooses to keep it private, there is no associated label of gender, age, ethnicity or lifestyle.<ref>{{cite book |last=Wellman |first=B. |year=1999 |title=
===Online chat rooms===
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