Online Collaboration for a Virtual Community Effort

Online collaboration is more than just sending instant messages to fellow colleges. It is the complete sharing of ideas and information so a mutual goal can be achieved with the greatest chance of acceptance by the piers in the community.

In the early days of the internet, online collaboration between colleges was severely limited. Most of the sharing of data was by the posting of results so those interested parties could read and analysis the data. The interaction between individuals was nearly non-existent.

With the advent of email, the sharing of ideas and thoughts became easier, but still lacking the same type of exchange that a face to face discussion would bring. This was an advancement in online collaboration, but there was still room for improvement.

The next level of evolution in online collaboration was the advent of instant messaging. This spawned several different branches of uses. At first this was limited to text messages but that soon changed. The evolution of instant messaging developed to where video calls could be set up so all participating parties could see each other along with hearing each other.  Each participant would have to be given permission to join or invited to be an active participant.

The other branch of this online collaboration consists of chat rooms. These are set up so anyone can join in. This is the sharing of ideas and thoughts with a wide range of participants. In most cases there is a person that monitors the activity to ensure the rules of the chat room are kept.  This type of system allows the free flow of information to be discussed in real time.

It was inevitable that the next evolution in online collaboration would be the instant sharing of data files. This has already been achieved with providers like Dropbox. No longer are people hindered by an awkward email system. This kind of program allows for anyone to invite anyone to be a part of their private network for the instant sharing of files between them.

The next evolution of online collaboration is already on the drawing board and will become a reality within the next year. This is the founding of business communities where professionals can share ideas, thoughts, files and more in real time. It will be like a virtual symposium that will only enhance the business world as a whole.