The concept of connectivity is essential to examining
the nature and meaning of websites as well as their representation
of community and identity. In this context, “connectivity”
is the binding affiliation between participants within particular
communities, whether specific or broad in scope, as well
as the degree of relational bonds between multiple websites.
Objects of content embedded on websites, such as text, images,
and hyperlinks, as well as their structural arrangement,
collectively work together to shape group identity and to
establish connections between members as well as other sites
on the Internet. These connections evolve as participants
find points of commonality and engage in sustained interaction,
forming the foundation of the community. Members are dynamically
connected by their ascription, signification, and representation
of a group identity, defining the nature of the community
and strengthening its infrastructure. The synergistic quality
of community, identity representation, and connectivity
jointly form a dynamic feedback system, equally dependent
on each other in their contribution to the construction
and proliferation of communities online and assertion of
group identity on the Internet.
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