Again the user creates a 'nick name,' effectively masking their identity. Although the mode of communication is the same on all the channels the representation of the self can be individual to the channel. The self takes on the function of multi-tasking sharing it's processing power with other selves in a constant round of switching to different channels, and yet there is some 'presence' left behind, even if it is only the users nickname in the channel window. The computer is the antidote to blip culture. The notion of 'windows' is well known to the users of computers with the Microsoft Corporation software of the same name.
Virtual communities extend the metaphor.
It is easy to understand the attraction of the windows metaphor, as I have already indicated it is familiar to a large proportion of computer users. Although this position presupposes a positive response from the communities one tries to join Heim does concede that the communities involved will become more intangible as the Net grows and the users connections increase. There seems to be another side to the idea of virtual community as a salve for urban alienation. The user is emphasising their isolation, their disconnectedness from the local community around them. The freedom to be what they want to be, whilst participating in a virtual community, may simply serve to throw up the inadequacies of their corporeal existence in stark relief.