Online CommunitiesBy Jennifer L. BowieBased on the readings for

class

Questions for discussion• What is the difference between a

group and a community?• Can a true community form online?

What is a online community?• Online or virtual communities form "when people carry on public

discussions long enough, with sufficient human feeling, to form webs of personal relationships” Rheingold

• Virtual communities are created around common interests• They require:

– People– Purpose– Policies– Computer systems (Preece)

• Considered “third places” (conversation-based informal environments that are neither work nor home and are a place of community)

• They can include (from Preece 13 drawing on ACM):– Shared activities and strong emotional ties– Shared access to resources and policies concerning the resources– Reciprocity of info, services, and support– Shared context including language

• There is a sense of community• There are often rituals

Why do people contribute?• According to Peter Kollock there are

three non-altruistic motivations:– Anticipated reciprocity: give and get – Increased recognition: become

recognized – Sense of efficacy: can effect the

environment • Also due to a “sense of community”

according to Mark Smith

The community hierarchyAccording to Amy Jo Kim there are five

stages of the community participation hierarchy:

1. Lurker or visitor: just observe2. Novice: begin participating3. Regular: have continue participation over a

period of time4. Leader: further sustained participation with

recognition5. Elder: long time leader and often a

community pillar or “wise person”

Virtual selves?

by Peter Steiner page 61 of July 5, 1993 issue of The New Yorker, (Vol.69 (LXIX) no. 20)

From http://www.unc.edu/depts/jomc/academics/dri/idog.html

Virtual selves…• Psychical aspects like race, sex,

appearance, and even disabilities are not “evident” online

• People can be whoever they want (within reason generally)

• This is seen as both positive and negative. Why?

What online communities can you think of?• Why/how are they communities?

The End

From: http://www.arcatapet.com/fullsize/11131.jpg