The community

Where did they come from ?

One solution the surfer might try, as he continues to explore the part of the Web that he doesn't known, is to find like-minded people on Internet. As a result of asking the search engines, from articles in the computer press, and by word of mouth, he gradually manages to find the sites of people in his profession. Sometimes he visits shop-window type sites, sometimes he's lucky enough to find sites which give him access to what's known as 'added-value' information, and sometimes he has the chance to take part in discussion groups and mailing-lists where he can ask the questions which he's never been able to ask since he got connected to Internet.

These are the famous virtual communities (also known as interest communities or online communities). For some time, surfers have been meeting on theme-based sites. Whereas in the real world it is geographical proximity which allows people to meet, on the computer network it's shared interests which link surfers, and which enable electronic commerce specialists (http://www.planete-commerce.fr), Internet watchers (http://www.veille.com) and new technology enthusiasts (http://www.atelier.fr) to meet.

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