Tutorial 6 - The internet and online communities

Online communities are communities that reflect a community in the real world but instead, are on the internet. These online communities are a great way to connect with people and get information rapidly.

I decided to join the Mojozone which is an online community that has been established, for people to share information about rock climbing and bouldering in New Zealand. The website is www.mojozone.co.nz if anyone would like to check it out.

This community allows people to gain a lot of information about climbing and bouldering in New Zealand. Latest news items, articles that have been written, information about the different crags around NZ, a forum and access to other links that are related. This is a very interactive site as people can contribute enormously. People's contribution to this site is what makes it effective. There is a large forum that has several categories from general info, to information about crags, upcoming events, access issues, training and injuries, gear and also a category for people who are looking for a climbing buddy.

People choose to contribute to this community because it allows them to gain a lot of information in a short amount of time and over great distances. Because this community is based on climbing all over New Zealand, it allows people to gain information about crags and events in their own area as well as else where in New Zealand if they wish to go on a trip. The ease of this online community is very beneficial. It also allows people to gain information about a crag before going there so that they know what sort of gear to take and what to look out for, for example, whether you need to gain permission from land owner to gain access to a crag, or whether to look out for some dodgy bolting. The spread of the information via this online is rapid.

The following is an example of a topic being discussed under the 'crag' category;
"Has anyone got any idea s to the climbability/ boulderabilty of the limestone karst out pukekohe way? there is a caving business run out there (Nikau Cave) and google earth returns some cool looking valleys. I dont imagine im the first one to question whether its worth climbing as its pretty close to Auckland, i think about 90mins by the caving site, anyway, heres few links in what ive found, any info would be good, otherwise il probably just go for scenic drive with the zoom lense... These guys talk about a 100 ft cliffs..."
This is written by someone who has come across some limestone rocks out Pukekohe way and is wondering whether anyone else has been out to investigate whether it is climbable in terms of the strength of the rock and prospect holds.

With any online community there are always ethical issues surrounding the use of it. With Mojozone you can create your own user name, this is the name you go by when posting information. This means that people can have a lack of identity and if something went wrong because of the information they provided, they can escape accountability because they are essentialy anonymous. Althought there are a lot of people in this community, it is still small enough that people know who each other is, as you meet them out at the crags.

Although this online community is beneficial in getting information quickly and from a variety of sources it can not completely provide what some aspects of what the traditional communities. can. Because you can not see the people face to face there is less personal interaction. Being in a traditional climbing community allows you to interact with your peers, doing and talking about what you all enjoy it a familiar atmosphere. It is all good about talking about it, but it is the act of DOING that is the achievement of the community and being surrounded in the climbing atmosphere. That you can only get from traditional communities.

So although online communities are great they should not by any means completely replace traditional communities.