Assgn.7 Opt.1- A Community of Brothers

Without communities in our everyday lives, our social interactions with others would be very basic and wouldn’t develop into deep meaningful relationships. Communities do not necessarily have to exist soley in person but can exist online as well. The world online is taking on a whole new perspective and its interactions and ideals are becoming very similar with those of the FtF world. Being part of a fraternity has given me a new family and a new online community. I communicate with hundreds of my brothers in my frat through our Facebook group. Once you cross, you enter this group on Facebook and begin interacting with the hundreds of brothers all over the nation. We can each write about our lives, experiences, thoughts or even just to have a basic conversation. Pictures can be exchanged and new relationships can be formed.


Haythornwaite would describe this community with the Gemeinschaft method. Our community is based on strong interpersonal ties, a shared focus, common language and identity. Being all part of the same fraternity forms strong ties within ourselves. We are brothers regardless of where we are from or what chapter we are from. Some ties may be stronger with brothers that are closer and have the opportunity of having FtF interactions with. The distant brothers although distant, will still form ties but they will be seen as weak ties. We don’t get to interact or contact each other much but the tie is still there. If I ever needed anything I would not think twice about asking because I know they would be there. In some cases it is better to have weaker ties with members because those of us with strong ties all share the same resources and ideals with each other. A brother with a weak tie can offer something new that we may not have the exposure to. That gives us a sense of reciprocity in the online community. Anyone can post something and get feedback back from all brothers. This gives a bigger sense of brotherhood and makes us one big unit. Everyone shares a common identity. We are all brothers of the same organization and proudly wear Greek letters to state it. Our purpose is clearly the same as we all pledged the same morals and ideals.


I believe that CMC affects our community but in a positive way. Because of distance and personal lives, members will go on without the opportunity of meeting brothers from all over the nation. This Facebook group helps introduce new brothers to each other and keep contact between those who know each other. The constant communication and interaction with each other keeps the morale, sense of brotherhood and unity up. CMC helps establish the community and builds ties similar to those seen in FtF interactions. In fact, CMC helps to build FtF interactions as well further building and solidifying the community.

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