This paper looks at the idea of and some instances of virtual communities and focuses on the issue of whether they help or inhibit social interactions for the majority of people who use them. I am not looking at whether internet use in general is good or bad but I am focusing on the people who use virtual communities for social interaction. Some of these communities are hobby/interest groups; support groups i.e. health issues or interactive game players. I will look at how the social interactions online affect a person’s sociability in general and what types of social interactions they have online.
