It is now an unplanned open network with no central control which some claim is the most liberating force in the world today. The modern equivalent of turning swords to ploughshares. Others claim that the Internet has unprecedented potential for social control. We have seen that community is, at heart, a kind of relationships between numbers of people. The Internet provides an unprecedented network of communication and therefore a new medium for the development of community.
People talk about on-line communities, or virtual communities.
The first question sociologists have addressed in relation to these communities about the meaning of 'virtual community'. It is argued that virtual communities are not real. They are not communities at all. Just networks of communication through electronic media. Once we see through the hype and jargon we can continue live in the real world much the same as before.