On May 5th, 1997, the European Edition of Business Tech Magazine Led with Hoffman’s GMAT Reading Comprehension

Reading Passage Question

On May 5th, 1997, the European edition of Business Tech Magazine led with Hoffman’s cover story "Internet Communities: How They're Shaping Electronic Commerce". This cover story highlights the extent to which the term virtual community has become almost synonymous with various forms of group-CMCs (computer mediated communication), including email-list forums, chat-systems such as IRC, web-based discussion areas and UseNet news-groups. There was no debate in the Business Tech Magazine article as to whether the group-CMC discussions are really 'communities', rather how community as opposed to content can be used to encourage people to return to a particular part of cyberspace for commercial gain. In a similar vein, Simpson and Armstrong in "Internet Gain" argue that ignoring virtual communities would be a great loss of a marketing tool for businesses. They define virtual communities as computer mediated space where there is an integration of content and communication with an emphasis on member-generated content.

Not all virtual community commentators agree with the Spartan position taken by Hoffman. Rheingold, one of the prime popularizers of the term virtual community, provides us with a more emotive definition in his book The Virtual Community: Homesteading on the Electronic Frontier. According to Rheingold, "virtual communities are social aggregations that emerge from the Net when enough people carry on those public discussions long enough, with sufficient human feeling, to form webs of personal relationships in cyberspace". Rheingold's definition is extremely popular and has been quoted in many discussions about virtual communities. As discussed below, for social scientists, particularly sociologists, Rheingold's definition raises many issues, especially concerning the notion of community. This is because Rheingold argues via a variety of analogies from the real world such as homesteading that virtual communities are indeed new forms of "community". In fact, Rheingold implies that virtual communities are actually "a kind of ultimate flowering of community". Moreover, Rheingold maintains that whenever computer mediated communications technology becomes available, people inevitably create communities with it. Rheingold can thus be labeled as a technological determinist as he holds that there is a predictable relationship between technology and people's behavior.

The debate over the validity of Rheingold's position has raised doubts about the existence of virtual communities and the appropriate use of the term. Weinreich claims that the idea of virtual communities must be wrong because community is a collective of kinship networks that share a common geographic region, a common history, and a shared value system, usually rooted in a common religion. In other words, Weinreich rejects the existence of virtual communities because group-CMC discussions cannot possibly meet his definition. In Weinreich's view, anyone with even a basic knowledge of sociology understands that information exchange in no way constitutes a community.

“On May 5th, 1997, the European edition of Business Tech Magazine led with Hoffman’s”- is a GMAT reading comprehension passage with answers. Candidates need a strong knowledge of English GMAT reading comprehension.

This GMAT Reading Comprehension consists of 4 comprehension questions. The GMAT Reading Comprehension questions are designed for the purpose of testing candidates’ abilities in understanding, analyzing, and applying information or concepts. Candidates can actively prepare with the help of GMAT Reading Comprehension Practice Questions.

Solution and Explanation

Question 1
The primary purpose of the passage is to

(A) suggest an alternate definition for the term virtual communities
(B) challenge the validity of group-CMCs in the virtual community
(C) discuss whether group-CMCs constitute real communities
(D) present two opposing hypotheses and presents research and evidence to support them
(E) emphasize the unsuitability of traditional definitions of community in light of the recent establishment of virtual communities on the Net

Question 2
According to Simpson and Armstrong, virtual communities

(A) are not as effective as content in encouraging people to return to a particular part of the Internet.
(B) emphasize attracting new members through their use of absorbing content
(C) are not really communities, but simply group-CMC discussions
(D) has become almost synonymous with various forms of group-CMCs
(E) are an invaluable marketing tool for businesses.

Question 3
Weinreich rejects Rheingold’s inclusion of virtual communities in the definition of communities for all of the following reasons EXCEPT

(A) virtual communities do not usually exchange information
(B) virtual communities do not usually share the same territory
(C) virtual communities do not usually share values
(D) virtual communities do not usually share a common history
(E) virtual communities are not usually rooted in a common religion

Question 4
The author says ‘there was no debate in the Business Tech Magazine article’ to emphasize which of the following points?

(A) It is not content but community that can be used to entice the public to go back to a commercial website
(B) It is not community but content that can be used to entice the public to go back to a commercial website
(C) It would be a great loss of a business-marketing tool if virtual communities were ignored.
(D) There are various forms of group-CMCs, including email-list forums, chat systems, web-based discussion areas and UseNet news-groups.
(E) Business Tech Magazine had already assumed that group-CMCs are communities.

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