Some of the benefits of online communities are: (a) we can teach other people without becoming part of a university or secondary school bureaucracy; (b) we can teach other people without having to teach full-time; (c) we can learn without paying university or college fees; (d) we can learn without quitting our jobs; (e) we can learn without leaving our houses; (f) we can learn from people who have broader experience than full-time teachers; (g) we can work without having to be in the same building; (h) we can contribute to a company's or non-profit organization's projects without having to work full-time.
Technology profoundly affects the type of community that can be sustained and the extent to which information flows from few to many or from many to many.