File:The Spaciality of Community in the Digital Age A Furry Case Study.pdf

English: This project investigates the spatiality of digital community through the use of a case study on the Furry Fandom. Given the lack of geographic literature on digital spatiality it relies on work from other disciplines, supported by geographic theories of relationally constructed social space. The Furry Fandom is a predominantly digital community that has strong ties in physical space in the form of its convention culture, resulting in a more focused relationship between physical and digital space. The research was conducted using a survey and individual interviews with members of the community who were accessed through the communities digital spaces, since this gave access to the largest possible sample population. The technologies which enable the existence of digital space have enabled the Furries to exist since they provide a level of distance which allows individual’s constructed fursonas to come to the fore, interact and form community space. A combination of relational space theory and the spatial triad is used to illustrate the formation of the social space of the Furry community both within the physical and digital. The study’s overarching conclusion is that community social space has become much more imagined and abstract.