What makes up a "community"?

Today, communities exist in places where many people would never expect them to exist.  Some may think that a community can only exist when people physically meet and talk to each other face to face, or when something physical is traded or exchanged.  The fact is, is we live in a world where the technology of the internet and the world wide web has made it possible for communities to exist in the digital world, without ever having to physically see or meet any of its members, this has  drastically changed how people can belong to a community; examples of digital communities: online social communities, gaming communities, dating communities, etc.     

There are many important aspects that define a community. Firstly, a community must contain group members; as long as there is more than one person, there should not be any minimum requirements to how many members there must be before it’s a community. The next characteristic of a community would be something that can be shared or contributed to the group that is beneficial to at least one other member. Next, a community must have at least one common theme among each and every member.  Also a community must always be in a state of motion and constant communication with its members to in order to stay strong and to stay together.

Calculating your net worth using online resources

Net worth for an individual is defined as the total value of someone’s assets minus all their liabilities; hence when assets exceed liabilities it is considered to be that person’s net worth. Calculating your own net worth is something that is important if you want to track your improvement or your losses from year to year financially.

My recent experience in learning how to calculate my own current net worth was very easy to do, mainly due to the fact that I am a college student with hardly any assets and thankfully not too mainly liabilities either. I began the task of finding my own net worth by first searching Google for ways of calculating net worth. The search results from Google provided several websites that offered free online net calculation tools. I choose a website that guided me through the process of listing all possible assets (ex. stocks, bonds, cash etc.) that I would have, as well as all my liabilities (mortgages, credit cards, home-equity loan etc.) and then finally it produced a number that told me my net worth.

Even though I currently do not have really valuable assets of my own, I am not worried because I am still young and I am in progress to getting a college degree in Information Technology that I know will provide me with a strong base for a future career and many valued assets to enjoy and be proud of.

Buying Items Online Vs Buying Items in Person

Buying items online through websites and buying items in person at a store both have their advantages and disadvantages. 

Here is my top three categories of items that I prefer to buy online:

1. Electronic equipment; computers, speakers, headphones, etc.
2. Books
3. Video games

Assuming that I am willing to wait for my item to be shipped to me, these items listed above are ones that I would definitely prefer to buy online because I know I can get them for a better price than if I were to buy in person.  Also, buying online provides for a quicker and more convenient transaction for me than if I were to go travel and buy them in person.

Here is my top three categories of items that I prefer to buy in person:

1. Clothes
2. Food and drinks
3. Home improvement

I would much rather buy clothes for myself in person mainly because I am going to be actually wearing the clothes and I want to know exactly how the clothes look and feel on me before I buy them. Food and drinks are obviously something that should for the most part be bought in person because of how food needs to stay fresh and undamaged before it is consumed. The shipping journey may be an unsafe environment for many types of foods.  I prefer to mostly buy home improvement items in person because it is easier to see the quality of these items and how they will look in my home before I buy them.

In summary, I am glad to have the option of buying online and the option of buying in person because both have their advantages.