Every form of association in the real world has its community equivalent on Internet : economic societies, non profit-making associations, political parties, think tanks, crime rings, spiritual and religious sects, sporting federations, pressure groups, leisure activities, fan-clubs ... There is often no precise legal framework, as these groups are often created informally, but they still meet the same kind of needs.

Definition : Website hosting, electronic commerce and virtual intermediary space, grouping individuals or organisations of the same culture or shared interests, various services (news, content, services, research tools, groupware tools).

Without claiming to be an exhaustive list, here are some of the types of communities to which the strategies of the virtual economy should be applied :

Professional communities
This is the type of community which is growing the fastest at present, as business-to-business electronic commerce proceeds by this new form of online relationship. Those who work within a given profession meet each other (in discussion groups, chat rooms or mailing lists) and form contacts which they can exploit in a professional context by exchanging information in the context of this community.
There are two types :
- professional communities : they link the profession according to their jobs (marketing, accountants ...)
- vertical communities : they link networks vertically (the chemical industries, banks ...)

Tribal Communities...