Newly Emerging Groups

If managers aren't important anymore towards the formation or control of groups using online tools, what do you consider the main role websites such as MeetUp.com, Facebook, or MySpace have provided newly emerging groups?

I think that the main role new websites have provided emerging groups is less limitations to what you can do with and in a meeting. Meeting online instead of face-to-face does have its disadvantages but like Shirky said in her book “Here Comes Everybody” it has taken some of limitations from group meetings, such as how many people can meet at once and including more people in the participation factor, almost completely away. The biggest factor, like the question poses, is how online meetings have changed the fact that you don’t necessarily need a manager or president or whatever to run the meeting; they seem to run just fine without someone in charge 24/7. In my opinion, I think having a meeting online takes away some of the stress of talking in front of people because you aren’t face-to-face so for people who normally are really stressed or intimidated by talking in front of people they can feel more comfortable talking via a computer and have at least some of that stress taken away. Also the fact that you can partake in an online meeting anywhere that provides internet today also relieves some of the stress of trying to get everyone in the group to find a time to meet. Now people can turn on the computer and attend a meeting at the coffee shop, at school or even in their PJ’s in their own home. This also takes away the need for someone to be in charge of figuring out where when and how many people can meet at a certain time for every meeting that needs to be held, people can meet more freely on their own. Like I said before I think online meetings do have disadvantages, like losing some of the personal feeling, etc. but they also allow meetings to run more smoothly perhaps with some of the stress taken away in confronting people, and also it’s easier now to watch a meeting that took place that you might have missed by watching a recording of it. I still think it’s important or at least helpful to have someone that mainly runs the meeting, but it’s less vital to have someone like that in online meetings.