ABSTRACT
In this chapter, the authors argue for a broad conception of the notion of a virtual place – as a place that is dependent on networked infrastructure for its existence. As a description of online virtual places was conceived by William Gibson in his novel Neuromancer as a three-dimensional ‘data-scape’ inside the global matrix of computer networks where disembodied users interact with ‘clusters and constellations of data'. Online communities are perceived to provide an antidote to such conditions, providing an alternative form of community to one underpinned by a sense of place. Many of the arguments around community and spacelessness online can be illustrated with respect to collaborative virtual environments, often suggested to be the nearest thing to geographic communities available online due to their synchronous, many-to-many nature, their shared three-dimensional graphical environment, and the use of avatars to represent participants.
