Real communities, on the other hand, are forged through gradual acceptance, integration, and participation on many levels by citizens and have a general locale. Friends, experiences, participation in clubs, and schooling are just a number of community functions that bring people together to form a community. However, marginality and associated discrimination can be a causal factor in the exclusion from real communities of some individuals and groups.
Inclusion and Alienation.
For many, the internet can be a source of new found community or another source of alienation for others. Inclusion in technological advances associated with cyberspace, continue to be but a dream for the poor and least educated for whom computer and internet accessibility remains unattainable (Loader 1998, p. 65). Even though computers are becoming less expensive, the inequity of access for lower socio-economic classes remains while the more endowed segments of the larger society continue to keep pace with, and adapt to, a changing world. Cultural or ethnic minorities, woman, youth, homosexuals, disabled and so on, are minorities that may find greater acceptance and inclusion in cyber communities. Cyber communities can be a good adjunct or complimentary aspect to real communities because they allow people from marginalised groups, and people who for various reasons participate little in their real community, to interact with multitudes of likeminded people who they simply would not have been able to in real life. This is an obvious strength of virtual communities in that they offer an alternative means of community and social life from which they might otherwise have been excluded. These people have a chance to have some type of life and identity where they can be greeted and welcomed without their race, gender, disability, or appearance being an issue. This does not mean, however, that anybody regardless of race, age, creed or other personal characteristics would be welcomed or included in all cyber communities.