online communities

ive been thinking about my essay topic and want to do a bit more exploring of online communities. of course i cant really go past ITM's forums..
to give a brief run down, there are 15 forums on ITM (wow) and they get heaps of traffic.. the forums are arranged under the following headings, which ive attempted to briefly describe;

general this is where a range of topics are discussed, its mostly 'chat', very informal, and has popular threads such as 'post a photo of yourself' (3000 posts), the 'ITM 9-5' which is for people at work who are basically using the forum as a chat room throughout the day while the boss isnt looking (8000 posts), and the 'word association game'(9000 posts).

media and current events general discussion on movies, current news events, etc
lifestyle where to start? love, fashion, food, and health probably sums it up
international travel & clubbing basically what it sounds like - travel, loosely based around 'clubbing' destinations
tunes and tracks this is mostly a survey of whats being listened to on ITM, features 'track of the day', where everyone posts what 'their' track of the day is, also threads under loose generic categories discussing whats hot at the moment..
buying and selling mostly dj equipment for sale. not the place to advertise your pet canary (not that im seriously thinking of selling her.. i just wish she'd SHUT UP sometimes..)
music production & technology divided into two 'subforums':
Music Production & Technology Discussion what equipment to buy and how to use it
Music Producers Track Reviews links to member produced tracks and commentary from members with suggestions etc
gaming & computers comments on computer hardware (music related and other) as well as various pc and console games
Ask ITM a Q&A forum for people having troubles using the site, eg ticket purchase, posting pics etc

Capital City forums:
Adelaide
Brisbane
Canberra
Melbourne
Perth
Sydney

where local events are posted. this is the place where people organise to meet up at events, talk about events afterwards, post their pics, as well as various community type functions like happy birthdays, general chat, etc.

so as you can see almost everything that an online community could wish to discuss is happening at ITM (except selling that damn canary). im hoping to have a closer look at some of the forums, particularly to see if there is any significant differences between the various capital cities, and also the use of the 'general' forum which seems to be where some interesting online stuff happens..

ill keep u *posted*.. right now ive g2g watch the origin.. or half of it at least! go da maroons.. (just to keep my b/f happy)