An online community is a network of people who come together and communicate online, usually because of a common interest or goal. There are many different types of online communities. Some examples of online communities are: email distribution lists, message boards and newsgroups, instant message (IM) services, chat rooms, blogging sites, social networking sites such as MySpace and Facebook, and online classrooms/school groups. Tom Hodgkinson in The Guardian online news article said, " Right now, two million new people join each week. At the present rate of growth, Facebook will have more than two hundred million active users by this time next year. "I intend to discuss three of these types of online communities (chat rooms, social network sites, and online classrooms/school groups) and look into the pros and cons of using each of these. .

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             First, I will talk about internet chat rooms. A chat room is a site where users can talk live to other users. Users are online at the same time and can "chat " back and forth. This is called "synchronous" communication. Some of the pros to using this type of online community would be that they can complete a discussion or subject faster than emailing back and forth. With email, they have to wait for the other person to check his/her email and respond. When they are chatting in a chat room, it is just like if they were talking. Online chat rooms can also be a wonderful way to meet new people. This can be a pro as well as a con. Chat rooms can be potentially dangerous, especially to teens and young children who do not understand or believe the dangers. They have no way of really knowing if the person chatting with them is really who they say they are. This is why private chat rooms can be safer. In a private chat room, people are invited to join. .

             Another pro of chat rooms is that it can be very entertaining. It has become a very popular pastime for many young people.