I'm writing a paper on Online communities and how they formed, what they really are, how they function, etc. and would like to know what you guys think to help my paper have some actual statistics and be able to be a bit more personal. So here I have some questions for you guys, please answer as many of these as you can, it'd really help me with this:

1) In your opinion, what is an online community?

2) Where do you think the first online community was formed?

3) do you believe online communities display social patterns similar or differing from real life communities? Why?

4) do you believe online communities are safe?

5) what characteristics make up a good online community? What keeps you hooked?

6) what do you think are characteristics that make a good community and a bad one?

7) do these communities form fast or slow? Can anyone create a working community?

Thanks for taking the time to read, please respond to this by next friday so I can get the answers collected and inserted!