Mapping the Virtual in Social Sciences: On the Category of "Virtual Community"

Lately the term "virtual" has been used more and more frequently by both scholars and journalists to refer to social phenomena and entities. Quite representative of this trend is the phrase "virtual community" which has been rapidly accepted in common language. However, its use by social scientists raises many questions. Since the words "virtual" and "community" are both polysemic, what exactly might the term "virtual community" mean? And what new kind of collectivity is it supposed to circumscribe? Doesn't it imply a sort of nostalgia for a mythical form of community, along with an idealization of face-to-face interactions? This paper attempts to offer some elements of solution to these questions by means of a critical examination of recent social science texts. Resume Ces dernieres annees, universitaires et journalistes ont frequemment recours a l'adjectif « virtuel » pour qualifier des entites et phenomenes sociaux. L'emploi de l'expression « communaute virtuelle », aujourd'hui naturalisee dans la langue courante, est particulierement representatif de cette tendance. Cependant, son usage en sciences sociales souleve plusieurs questions : etant donne la polysemie des mots virtuel et communaute, que signifie exactement l'expression « communaute virtuelle » ? Quel nouveau type de collectif est-elle censee decrire et eclairer? N'implique-t-elle pas paradoxalement la nostalgie d'une forme mythique de communaute, ainsi que l'idealisation du face a face comme situation de communication ? Cet article tente d'apporter des elements de reponse a ces questions a travers un examen critique de textes recents en sciences sociales. Resumen En estas ultimos anos, universitarios y periodistas han utilizado frecuentemente el adjetivo «virtual» para calificar entidades y fenomenos sociales. El empleo de la expresion «comunidad virtual », hoy naturalizada en la lengua corriente, es particularmente representativo de esta tendencia. Sin embargo, su uso en ciencias sociales plantea varias cuestiones : teniendo en cuenta la polisemia de las palabras virtual y comunidad, que significa exactamente la expresion «comunidad virtual »? Que nuevo tipo de colectivo pretende describir y esclarecer? Esa expresion, no implica paradojicamente la nostalgia de una forma mitica de comunidad, como tambien la idealizacion del frente a frente como situacion de comunicacion? Este articulo intenta aportar elementos de respuesta a estas preguntas a traves de un examen critico de los textos recientes en ciencias sociales.

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