CONCLUSION

According to our in-class discussions (tutorials) and on the online blog, we came to the conclusion that a (virtual) community happens when a community share common interests, share proximity, share common experiences, communicate and commune with each other.

So is HabboHotel a virtual community? Well, the community there has:

• a shared interest of meeting people and making friends, (but not interest groups)
• a shared proximity of the HabboHotel environment,
• common shared experiences of playing Falling furniture or singing at the Opera House.
• Several modes of communicating with each other.

Sure! all of these happen in the HabboHotel’s virtual environment. And also,
HabboHotel’s aim and objective is to provide a safe environment for teenagers to meet with each other and make new friends. From my involvement and observations I found that these aims and objectives are being met. Therefore, it can be said that HabboHotel is a virtual community and a successful online networking software. However, I could not put my mind at ease because I still felt a sense of removal and a lack of complete and serious commitment around this virtual environment. The level of communion was low in HabboHotel.

HabboHotel’s lack of communion and commitment indicates that it is not a perfect virtual community. It was very interesting to find that my evaluation of the HabboHotel environment has made me realize that “sharing a common interest” does not necessarily have to be regarded as “groups of interest”. Therefore, I have to conclude HabboHotel is a Virtual Community in some ways and it is not necessary to have groups of interest as an entity of an interactive Virtual Community.