Gregory F Williams | Curtin University (original) (raw)

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Papers by Gregory F Williams

According to Cohen, the boundaries that communities construct are largely symbolic despite using ... more According to Cohen, the boundaries that communities construct are largely symbolic despite using territory and other physicalities to distinguish member from non-member and friend from foe. With the Internet bringing so many people together to engage with one another, it is inevitable that communities develop, creating their own symbolic boundaries. How are those boundaries created when a community has not yet had the time to develop shared experiences? This paper presents a case study of /r/DestinyTheGame, a subreddit community of Reddit, observing and analysing the terminology that developed into the symbols that form its boundaries of membership. This paper discusses the background of how communities build symbolic boundaries; it highlights the unique circumstances that affect communities that are online and, in particular, situated on Reddit; and then demonstrates how /r/DestinyTheGame, a relatively new online community, creates its own boundary-creating symbols to provide a sense of community membership by drawing from its source material: the video game, Destiny.

According to Cohen, the boundaries that communities construct are largely symbolic despite using ... more According to Cohen, the boundaries that communities construct are largely symbolic despite using territory and other physicalities to distinguish member from non-member and friend from foe. With the Internet bringing so many people together to engage with one another, it is inevitable that communities develop, creating their own symbolic boundaries. How are those boundaries created when a community has not yet had the time to develop shared experiences? This paper presents a case study of /r/DestinyTheGame, a subreddit community of Reddit, observing and analysing the terminology that developed into the symbols that form its boundaries of membership. This paper discusses the background of how communities build symbolic boundaries; it highlights the unique circumstances that affect communities that are online and, in particular, situated on Reddit; and then demonstrates how /r/DestinyTheGame, a relatively new online community, creates its own boundary-creating symbols to provide a sense of community membership by drawing from its source material: the video game, Destiny.

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