Is a Virtual Community Really a Community

I think that it is possible to find that a virtual community is really a community. The only thing missing is human to human physical contact. Instead of people meeting people through traditional means, people are able to meet and interact with a wider range of people through the Internet. Whether it be a site like Facebook or Myspace, people are still interacting as if they are connected in real life. There are a set of rules, like real life. There are many things that make an online community similar to a physical community. I think the only difference is the fact that most people that are involved online, don't come into contact with the other individuals in a physical way. I think people that are so well adjusted to a virtual community will eventually have problems with the real world communities. Face to face contact is important, you can just evaluate human emotions through an emoticon.