http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/10/08/map-of-online-communities-2010_n_755545.html
This link is a map, just for fun, of Online Communities, but I still feel it is a pretty accurate representation of what people use today.
I also read and article about the Life and Death of Online Communities. http://www.prospect.org/cs/articles?article=neo_cities It was quite interesting to read, even though it was published a year ago, it focused on the end of GeoCities, a popular online community from the early 90's. Towards the end of the article, someone asked, how do you archive bits? There is no method to archive bits, but if you wanted to print something out on paper with a good quality ink, you can read it in 50 years. However, with modern technology Bruce Sterling noted, "Tape demagnetizes. CDs delaminate. Networks go down." So what happens to an online community when it is retired? Who owns the rights to the content since it comes from all different sources? It is an interesting topic to think over... I highly doubt this would happen anytime soon, but how much would the work force change and communication among humans change if there were no longer online communities. Would we all be lost? Or would something greater have come along by then?
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