With the internet becoming more functional everyday, people all over the world are finding new uses for this incredible medium in their daily lives. Several years ago if you told someone you blogged them on MySpace you probably would have gotten some strange glances. Now these terms, and many more like them, are becoming a routine part of our vocabulary. Only decades ago you would have invoked some stupendous looks just by uttering the terms “chat room,” instant message” or “web blog.” Today these familiar terms have one thing in common. They all relate to virtual communities made possible by the internet.

In this essay, we will explore the reality of virtual communities. You will see why I strongly believe that there is nothing inherently “fake” about this relatively new medium and why a virtual society deserves equal appreciation when compared to communities outside of the internet. I will also share my views on why some virtual communities can improve our way of life and how we do business far beyond what any “real world” medium can do.

In order to understand virtual communities we must first understand what makes a community of any sort. According to one dictionary definition, a community can be viewed as “a social, religious, occupational, or other group sharing common characteristics or interests and perceived or perceiving itself as distinct in some respect from the larger society within which it exists” (Dictionary.com). Of course this is just one definition of a word that can have much ambiguity. In the context with which we are dealing, I believe this is the closest definition we will encounter. As for the definition of virtual, I mean the online world or simply the internet.

Long before the advent of the internet, it was difficult to grasp the concept of a virtual world. All society knew were the communities they lived in or visited.  A community was seen as something that was geographically located, such as neighborhoods, towns, schools and places of business. Over time there were changes to this definition. As travel got easier, communities got larger. Also, with better forms of long distance communication, people discovered that even if they weren’t geographically located in the same spot as someone else with similar interests, they could still converse with ease.

The internet took this form of communication to a global scale. For the first time in history, millions of people could connect, share, explore, and interact with each other regardless of whether they’re in Texas or Tokyo, Atlanta or Arizona. If you think about it, one thing every human being has in common is that we all reside on the same planet. So in effect, what the internet did was simply open a door that was already there. Let it be called “The Community of Earth Dwellers.” We just didn’t have a form of communication available to access that door prior to the internet revolution. But this is still just the tip of the iceberg and I can’t wait to see what else technology has in store for us.

Ok, now that we’re on the same page about the grand visions of virtual communities, let’s analyze some examples. There are many different reasons to belong to a virtual community. Maybe you have an illness and want to discuss it with people who are affected by it too. Maybe you’re a huge Steelers fan, but you moved to Florida and want to talk with some of your fellow fans back in Pittsburg. Maybe you want to share your poetry with poetry lovers from every country on earth. These are just a few of a seemingly endless array of reasons for participating in a virtual community. Also, your level of participation can vary. Usually when people first find a new virtual community, (an online message board in this case) they don’t immediately jump right into the conversation. It appears that most people just watch what is being said for a little while before interjecting their own opinions. These people are known in the virtual world as “lurkers.” First you have to familiarize yourself with the group and its parts before you can start interacting; that’s just common sense.

After getting out of the “lurking” stage, you begin to make judgments on the group and its contents. If these judgments are positive, or if you deem it applicable, this is where the interaction really begins. As you become more familiar with every stroke of the keyboard and click of the mouse, it is easy to forget that you probably haven’t met any of these people in the “real world” and maybe you never will. Does this take away from your experience? No! That’s like saying that driving a car takes away from the experience of walking everywhere. You can get the same thing done both ways. The car simply gives you more options, speed and convenience.

On this same note we must remember what makes human beings so different from all other forms of life; it is our ability to interact, communicate and form connections with each other. No matter how you look at it, all progress from the discovery of fire onward was made possible by team work, even if it was in the smallest way imaginable. This interaction is the heart of a community. It’s the fire of the conversation that keeps the heart beating. No wonder the why the words “communicate” and “community” sound so alike! So what is wrong with taking this idea and using an electronic means to put it into action?

In some cases, the online medium can be a great benefit. For example, look at the online auction community known as eBay. The idea of an auction is to have as many people as possible bid on an item, thus driving the selling price as high as possible. Before eBay and the Internet, auctions were only as large as the number of seats in an auction house. Therefore the number of bids (and maximum price to be paid) was always limited to that scale. What eBay did was figuratively knock down the walls of the auction house and allow millions of people to view and bid on the items. Many folks believe eBay has created a near-perfect sales platform, where supply meets demand at the exact price the market will pay. The kicker is that thanks to the internet, this happens on a global level with ease. The point is that with huge virtual communities such as eBay, we can actually buy and sell from one another with far more ease and at more realistic prices than ever before.

To illustrate another benefit of virtual communities, let’s explore one of the groups I belong to: www.MuscleAndFitness.com. This huge site is devoted to men and women who love to workout, eat right and stay healthy. The message boards are my favorite part of the site. I routinely visit to find new workouts, healthy eating tips and more. How could anyone ever get all this information from one source? It is only possible to have a wealth of knowledge about a subject as intricate as fitness when you combine the collective thoughts of hundreds or thousands of enthusiasts.  Do we all have to be looking at each other in the same room? No, it is quite possible for the same amount of interaction to occur online.

We all know that the internet is one of the fastest growing technologies in the history of computing. What does this mean for virtual communities? Well I believe we will see an unimaginable increase in the way we interact online. Words on a message board will be a thing of the past. Soon we will be so immersed by the advances of technology that there will be no argument on whether online communities can be considered real or not. With the incorporation of more audio and even 3D video, content will simply look and feel so real that it won’t be questioned. Maybe this will take some of the anonymity away from the online world and make those who are used to the classic ideas of community more likely to give it a try.

We live in a great age of convenience and things will continue to improve. Who would have imagined a day where you can think of any subject on earth, search for it, and find a wealth of information from multiple sources all in a few minutes time? If you still haven’t found what you’re looking for, just join into the conversations in one of the virtual communities related to the subject.

Expanding on that note, who would think there would be an age where families can stay connected all over the world, with audio, video and text? A family is one of the simplest forms of a community. Who said that leaving home to move into the world meant that you had to give up your place in this community? You shouldn’t have to. For it is partially with the foundation of our families that we become who we are; both our individual identities and our collective views are shaped by these interactions. Virtual or not, this interaction can continue and in my opinion, it will help us more than it will hurt us.

In closing, I hope this essay has enlightened you to further explore virtual communities and determine whether or not you agree with my points. The fact remains that no matter how different our opinions may be, virtual communities are here to stay. How much they are shaping our world is obvious, but how much they shape your world is ultimately up to you. Choose wisely.

Works Cited

“Community.” Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1). Random House, Inc. 08 Feb. 2007. <Dictionary.com http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/community>.

The Internet has impacted our lives in more ways than we can describe and yet we seldom know the names and faces behind the brands, products and services that made it all possible. Everyday, we check our email, buy gifts, track stock prices, read news articles and watch videos all thanks to a relatively few number of individuals who took the first leap into an unknown and unproven abyss. One of those individuals was a 30 year-old Harvard MBA who revolutionized the world of retail and in doing so became one of the first Internet billionaires. His name is Jeff Bezos and his company is Amazon.com. This is Jeff’s story, which chronicles his amazing path to fame and fortune as the founder of Amazon.com.

Born on January 12, 1964, in Albuquerque, New Mexico, Jeffery Preston Bezos showed an amazing aptitude for math and science from a very young age. Jeff’s mother realized this one day when she found her son trying to dismantle his crib with a screwdriver because he wished to sleep in a “grown-up bed.” Jeff was only three years old at the time (Garty 14). This ever-present sense of curiosity followed Jeff throughout his entire life. He excelled in school and was often fascinated by mechanical objects and puzzles. One of his favorite toys at school was a motorized cube which contained moving mirrors. This “infinity cube” kept Jeff busy for hours as he figured out how it worked. Eventually he bought his own mirrors and constructed his own motor so that he could have his very own infinity cube at home (Spector 3).

Jeff and his family moved several times during his younger years. In 1982, the family settled in Florida and Jeff attended Palmetto High School in Miami. He excelled in all subjects and received numerous awards, including the Best Science Student Award, Best Math Student Award, the Miami Herald Silver Knight Science Award and a trip to NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center. This last prize was a result of writing a winning paper titled, “The Effect of Zero Gravity on the Aging Rate of the Common Housefly” (Byers 18). When Jeff graduated from high school as Valedictorian in 1982, he was at the very top of his class, which consisted of 680 students. Everyone around him sensed that he would go on to accomplish great things in life.

Following high school, Jeff attended Princeton University where he graduated in 1986 with a 4.2 average and a degree in Computer Science (Byers 21). Now his opportunities in the world of business and technology were limitless, as almost every leading company wanted him to join their ranks. While working for a large banking company, Jeff eventually earned his MBA from Harvard which added to his already impressive list of credentials. However, he was never completely happy with the prospect of working for someone else, since he always felt somewhat held back. Jeff wanted to be his own boss and live the adventurous life that his mind craved.

In 1994, while working for a Wall Street firm, he was given the perfect opportunity to make that wish a reality. His employer asked him to research potential Internet business opportunities, which were a relatively new concept at the time. Jeff conducted methodical and detailed research and found that Internet usage was increasing by an astonishing rate of 2,300 percent per year.

Jeff immediately knew he was onto something big and he knew now was the best time to take action. Still, Jeff didn’t know how to maximize the business potential of the Internet, since it was such a new concept. He only had a vague idea that it could be used to host an online product catalog with a huge selection of items for sale, but he didn’t know what items would work best. After conducting more research, Jeff found one product that stood out from the rest and seemed perfect for Internet retail. He would open an online bookstore. Books seemed like a perfect choice, since the publishing industry was growing at a great pace, books were easy to stock, easy to ship and there were already three million titles in the market, which added to the variety of what was available to customers. It was time for Jeff to get his plan into action.

Amazon.com was officially incorporated on July 5, 1994. Jeff wanted the name of his company to reflect his vision of creating the largest and most well-stocked store in the world. Therefore, he chose the name of the largest river in the world, which also conveniently starts with the letter “A” thereby placing it near the top of most alphabetical search engine results and directories (Byers 46). To this day, Amazon.com continues to live up to its name, with current revenues of almost $15 billion and an unfathomable assortment of products to choose from.

For Jeff Bezos however, the road to profitability has not been an easy one. Many business professionals claimed that Amazon.com was doomed to fail from the start, because too much money was going out and not enough was coming in. Instead of growing at a slow and steady pace that was tailored to follow profitability, Jeff attempted a risky model of rapid expansion that was meant to corner the market before competitors could take away any business. Jeff knew that Amazon.com had to be the first and most well-known bookseller on the Internet if it ever was to survive. After that, the company could begin to worry about profitability. Jeff and his associates referred to this technique as the “Get Big Fast” model of business and that tagline eventually became an inside mantra of the company. Finally, in the last quarter of 2002, Amazon made its first-ever profit (at a meager penny per share) and has ever since remained profitable.

Jeff based the Amazon.com business philosophy around one primary focus: customer satisfaction. To this day he believes that nothing matters more than making sure the customer is satisfied. Only then will there be repeat business and referrals. For Jeff, this is a vital requirement for success in the world of business. He has accomplished this sense of ultimate satisfaction by tailoring the Amazon.com homepage to the unique interests of each visitor. The website remembers your name, your past purchases, your favorite items and your billing and shipping information. All of this is meant to simulate (or enhance) the experience of visiting a real-world neighborhood bookstore. Coupled with an outstanding team of customer service representatives, this is the successful formula that has driven Amazon.com to profitability.

In closing, Jeff Bezos and Amazon.com both have a lot of life ahead of them. Jeff continues to serve as CEO, president and chairman, with no plans on stepping down any time soon. This is just the beginning and it is certain that Amazon.com will continue to revolutionize new markets with each passing year. Today, Amazon.com offers a wide variety of products and services, from golf clubs to automobiles and everything in between. As for Jeff Bezos, whose net worth is currently estimated at $8.7 billion, he continues to privately support various charities both through Amazon.com auctions and other organizations, however he usually does so without disclosing the details. For example, Jeff donated Amazon.com stock worth an estimated $1 million to one or more charities in 2006, but the specifics are unknown.

What we do know is that Jeff introduced us to a new way of conducting business and for that he will always be remembered. This was made possible due to his outspoken vision of working hard, having fun and making history. He’s definitely done all of these things and much more. As Amazon.com races down the e-commerce superhighway, we can only speculate what will be next for both the company and its founder. Whatever the future holds, we can rest assured that with Jeff at the wheel, there will always be bigger and better surprises around every corner.

Works Cited

Byers, Ann. Jeff Bezos: the Founder of Amazon.Com. New York: Rosen, 2007.

Garty, Judy. Jeff Bezos: Business Genius of Amazon.Com. Berkeley: Enslow, 2003.

Spector, Robert. Amazon.Com: Get Big Fast. New York: Harper, 2002.

Due to the rapid growth of the Internet in the 1990s, we have seen an influx of web companies come and go over the years. Some were far too bent on turning a quick profit and failed to satisfy their customers. Others simply imitated already established companies, and because of their bland approach to business, they failed as well. But, somewhere in the mix of things emerged a few solid, innovative, and well developed ideas based around satisfying customer needs while generating a healthy profit. Names like eBay, Amazon and iTunes started out as just such ideas and now they are household names. However, there is one company that far surpasses routine innovation and leadership, that has built its mark on the Internet landscape with the motto “Don’t be evil.” That company is Google and as this paper explains, in the short span of just ten years, Google has become the “King of the Web” with no plans to step down any time soon.

Looking back at the inception of Google, something interesting stands out from the very beginning. Google was not originally created as a business venture; it was a purely academic research project between two Stanford University graduate students, Sergey Brin and Larry Page, in January of 1996. Brin and Page worked countless hours developing a complex algorithm that would later be known as “PageRank” that the Google search engine would use to rank websites based on their relevance. Up to that point, the majority of search engines available were slow, clunky and relied on the simple concept of returning search results based on the number of times a searched keyword or key phrase was found in a given page. When Brin and Page realized they were onto something huge, they decided to expand Google beyond academic research. In 1998, Brin and Page officially incorporated Google and began looking for office space and employees to fill it. Eventually, the company settled in Mountain View, California, in a massive office complex that is aptly named the “Googleplex.” Additionally, Google has over 60 field offices worldwide.

Google is a one-of-a-kind company because their target market is so diverse. They do not appeal to one particular group, but rather, to a worldwide user base that is hungry for rapid access to a vast array of information. Google can capitalize on this market by giving their users what they want and even some of what they didn’t know they wanted. This is made possible through the technology of content-based targeted advertising. For example, if a user searches for “iPhone accessories,” they will see textual advertisements that are only related to iPhone accessories in addition to their organic (normal) search results. Because of this type of targeting, Google can allow advertisers to deliver products and services to exactly the right people, nearly every time. This process actually makes advertising useful, not only for businesses, but for users too, since it is related to what they are searching for in the first place.

With all of this being said, it would be difficult to pin Google down to only one target market or only one product or service. While it is true that Google started out as a simple search engine and nothing else, these days the company has transformed itself into an Internet giant by making several smart moves and acquisitions, such as the purchases of YouTube and Blogger. Google now offers everything from free website hosting to image editing software and everything in between. Other services include email, blogs, videos, news, weather, movie showtimes, book searches, photo searches, price comparisons, word processing software, shopping cart software, local maps, directions, global satellite imagery, phone-based local info, instant messaging, groups, translation tools, print advertising, social bookmaking services and much more. If a new trend opens up, Google is one of the first to explore it, with the idea of getting people hooked on a free tool or service, so that they can eventually deliver relevant ads to a huge user base.

By now it should be clear that Google’s target market is immense. The Google homepage is the second most frequently visited page on the Internet and Google controls over 65% of the U.S. Internet search market and all of this comes out of a company that is a mere 12 years old. No wonder Google has been called the “fastest growing company in the history of the world” by a British newspaper. Their market capitalization of almost $170 billion speaks for itself.

Nevertheless, Google is not a perfect company and if they’re not careful, they could very well lose their place of Internet dominance. Most recently, there has been talk of a projected acquisition of Yahoo by software giant Microsoft. Since Yahoo Search is the second most popular search engine and Microsoft’s Live Search is not far behind, the combination of both companies would finally give Google a viable competitor in the search market. At the time of this writing, it is unsure whether or not the Yahoo/Microsoft deal will go through or not, but regardless, Google needs to work extra hard to prevent this from happening if they want to retain their lead. I would suggest to Google that they strike their own deal with either Yahoo or Microsoft to counteract the threat of both companies combining. Billions of dollars are at stake here and Google needs to act fast to stay profitable in an increasingly competitive world.

In another field, I would suggest that Google should think long and hard about the implications of controlling such a vast amount of information and personal data. There is a growing sense among the population that Google is slowly becoming a “Big Brother” of George Orwell’s 1984 fame. This may or may not be intentionally the case by Google, but when we think about it, Google knows almost everything about its users. For the average user, who has a Google-based email account and makes use of a good portion of Google’s other services, it is possible to know a great deal about that individual. Google knows what they search for, what’s in their email, how much time they spend online, what ads they click on, where they live, and other detailed information. Google then stores this information indefinitely in order to track its user’s web activity. Concerned individuals have referred to Google as a privacy disaster waiting to happen. Therefore, if the folks at Google intend to stay true to their motto of “Don’t be evil,” they better be prepared to defend their privacy practices. That is vital if they hope to remain profitable in the years to come.

Whether or not Google takes my suggestions, they have a lot of good things going for them. We’ll now take a more detailed look at Google’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Obstacles and Threats:

SWOT Analysis of Google, Inc.

From looking at the SWOT analysis of Google, it is clear that while the company is not perfect, there are many opportunities that could very well keep Google ahead of the pack for many years to come. Nevertheless, a company could have all the opportunities in the world and still fail because they didn’t act on them in time. That is why it is vital to have a top-shelf management team when dealing with an industry that can potentially change dramatically overnight. Fortunately, Google has just the right type of upper management who realize the urgency of actions over words.

From the moment Sergey Brin and Larry Page began thinking about Google as a corporate venture, they understood that while they may possess the technical skills needed to run the company, they didn’t have a great deal of business knowledge or business connections. Therefore, Brin and Page agreed to bring in an outsider, who would act as Chairman and CEO. This setup would still allow Brin and Page to have equal discretion in the decision-making process, while insuring that nothing from the business side of things would be overlooked. The person Brin and Page chose for this difficult job was Dr. Eric Schmidt, who formally worked as Chief Technology Officer of Sun Microsystems and later as CEO of Novell. Brin, Page, and Schmidt run Google as a “triumvirate,” which is a type of management style composed of three powerful individuals each with an equal vote (Battelle 133).

Running a company as a triumvirate usually has more benefits than drawbacks, but only if the three individuals can get along with each other. For Google, that doesn’t seem to be a problem, since Brin and Page have been friends since college and Schmidt is a seasoned professional who is excellent at keeping personal issues out of the business environment. When considering which five characteristics the Google team should have, there are many possibilities, but most important in my humble opinion, is the ability to work together in a group without bumping heads. To disagree in business is normal, only if it is done with a professional approach. Secondly, I believe it is necessary for Brin, Page, and Schmidt to stay on top of new technology and business news. Thirdly, it is always a good idea to remember the importance of customer satisfaction and put the customer first. Fourthly, a good leader motivates their employees to think outside the box. Among a huge amount of other work benefits, the Google team does this by allowing engineers to use 20% of their time for the development of their own ideas and creations. Finally, a good leader stays committed to excellence. The Google team strives for the very best in everything they do and they’re very careful not to release a finished project until it has undergone rigorous testing.

In closing, it should now be clear that the three leaders at the top of Google possess all of the necessary characteristics of outstanding business leaders. Sometimes it seems like Google may be on the wrong track or that the company is spread pretty thin, but the guys at the top are too smart for that to be the case. As Schmidt once said, “We try very hard to look like we’re out of control. But in fact the company is very measured. And that’s part of our secret” (Ignatius). It’s that type of logic that keeps all of Google’s competitors guessing, while Google reaps the sweet rewards of success.

Works Cited

Battelle, John. The Search. New York: Portfolio, 2005.

“Corporate Information – Company Overview.” Google. 20 Mar. 2008. 19 Apr. 2008 <http://www.google.com/corporate/index.html>.

“Corporate Information – Google Management.” Google. 07 Apr. 2008. 19 Apr. 2008 <http://www.google.com/corporate/execs.html>.

“Google as Big Brother.” Google Watch. 23 Mar. 2005. 19 Apr. 2008 <http://www.google-watch.org/bigbro.html>.

Ignatius, Adi. “Meet the Google Guys.” Time. 12 Feb. 2006. 19 Apr. 2008 <http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1158956,00.html>.

Vise, David A., and Mark Malseed. The Google Story. New York: Delta, 2005.