Virtual community

A virtual community is a social network of individuals who interact through specific social media, potentially crossing geographical and political boundaries in order to pursue mutual interests or goals. Some of the most pervasive virtual communities are online communities operating under social networking services.

The term virtual community is attributed to the book of the same title by Howard Rheingold. The book's discussion ranges from Rheingold's adventures on The WELL, computer-mediated communication and social groups and information science. Technologies cited include Usenet, MUDs (Multi-User Dungeon) and their derivatives MUSHes and MOOs, Internet Relay Chat (IRC), chat rooms and electronic mailing lists. Rheingold also points out the potential benefits for personal psychological well-being, as well as for society at large, of belonging to a virtual community.

Virtual communities all encourage interaction, sometimes focusing around a particular interest or just to communicate. Some virtual communities do both. Community members are allowed to interact over a shared passion through various means: message boards, chat rooms, social networking sites, or virtual worlds.

Community

A community is a social unit of any size that shares common values, or that is situated in a given geographical area (e.g. a village or town). It is a group of people who are connected by durable relations that extend beyond immediate genealogical ties, and who mutually define that relationship as important to their social identity and practice. Although communities are usually small, community may also refer to large groups, such as national communities, international communities, and virtual communities.

The word "community" is derived from the Old French comuneté which comes from the Latin communitas (from Latin communis, things held in common).

In human communities, intent, belief, resources, preferences, needs, and risks, may be shared in common, affecting the identity of the participants, and their degree of cohesiveness.

Perspectives from various disciplines

Community studies

Community studies is an academic field drawing on both sociology and anthropology and the social research methods of ethnography and participant observation in the study of community. In academic settings around the world, community studies is variously a sub-discipline of anthropology or sociology, or an independent discipline. It is often interdisciplinary and geared toward practical applications rather than purely theoretical perspectives. Community studies is sometimes combined with other fields, i.e., "Urban and Community Studies," "Health and Community Studies," or "Family and Community studies."

Video game

A video game is an electronic game that involves human interaction with a user interface to generate visual feedback on a video device such as a TV screen or computer monitor. The word video in video game traditionally referred to a raster display device, but it now implies any type of display device that can produce two- or three-dimensional images. Video games are sometimes believed to be a form of art, but this designation is controversial.

The electronic systems used to play video games are known as platforms; examples of these are personal computers and video game consoles. These platforms range from large mainframe computers to small handheld computing devices. Specialized video games such as arcade games, while common in the 1980s, have gradually declined in use due to the widespread availability of home video game devices (e.g., PlayStation 4 and Xbox One) and video games on desktop and laptop computers and smartphones.

The input device used for games, the game controller, varies across platforms. Common controllers include gamepads, mouses, keyboards, joysticks, the touchscreens of mobile devices and buttons. In addition to video and (in most cases) audio feedback, some games include haptic, vibration or force feedback peripherals.

Biology 101

"Biology 101" is the first episode of the third season of Community. The episode originally aired on September 22, 2011 on NBC. The episode picks up where the second season left off, with Pierce out of the group. The study group resumes class at Greendale and decides to enroll in Biology.

The episode was written by Neil Goldman and Garrett Donovan and directed by Anthony Russo.

Plot

The study group decides to take a Biology class together, but Pierce soon faces problems when only six seats are available in the class. Jeff quickly makes enemies with their professor (Michael K. Williams) and is removed from the class, leaving an open slot for Pierce in both the class and their study group. Jeff's plans to reveal Pierce's relationship to the new professor backfires. Dean Pelton unwisely stokes a rivalry with Vice Dean Laybourne (John Goodman), the dean of the school's lucrative Air Conditioning Repair Annex. Abed becomes despondent when Cougar Town goes into hiatus and the group tries to cheer him up by introducing him to Cougarton Abbey, a British show that Cougar Town was based on. Unfortunately, that show was cancelled after six episodes, ending with the main characters committing mass suicide.