Online Community

One form of online community for Buddhism is the website called BuddhisTV.com. This online community defines itself as a “video-sharing social network portal” for Buddhists. This website allows users to contribute their own knowledge of Buddhism by uploading videos that contain information about various ideas pertaining to Buddhism such as teachings by priests, videos to help members with chanting, information about Buddhist events, and even Buddhist music. It enables people to learn teachings from the comfort of their own home. The website may seem individual based because the majority of the activity involves watching videos uploaded by others users, but BuddhisTV has enabled features where users can create their own online groups with other members where they can discuss more specific issues. BuddhisTV lives out their form of online community through these groups where members create channels and can add messages on a forum board to discuss the materials they are viewing. BuddhisTV also allows its’ members to create their own profile where they can give information about themselves and upload a picture or an avatar. This gives members the chance to get to know other members of the community better to see if they have interests in common. The website further helps create specific communities by categorizing different information into channels so that people who are interested in specific ideas can subscribe to channels and discuss the materials being viewed with other subscribers. The offline impact of this online community would be that it makes it gives people a chance to be a part of a Buddhist community even if they live in an area where there are no other practitioners of the religion. By creating a convenient environment for Buddhists to come together, followers can easily learn and share information with others to help grow their faith.  I think it benefits Buddhists because it allows them to subscribe to channels to learn more information about specific practices or even issues that they are struggling with. However, since the website is more of a platform where people can share their opinions and own knowledge, I don’t think that it is a substitute for attending an offline temple. 

 link to website: http://www.buddhistv.com/