scholarly journals Understanding the Internet Pitchfork Mob: Internal Revolutionary Activity in Self-Regulated Online Communities

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
CO McRae ◽  
Jean-Gregoire Bernard ◽  
Jocelyn Cranefield
Keyword(s):  
Social Movements ◽  
Online Communities ◽  
Online Community ◽  
Business Models ◽  
The Internet ◽  
Voluntary Contributions ◽  
Digital Activism ◽  
Preliminary Model ◽  
Key Events ◽  
Value Relations

© 2016 University of Wollongong, Faculty of Business. All rights reserved. Research into organised online protest typically focuses on how digital activism empowers social movements. But what if an online community is rebelling against its platform owners? This study seeks to identify the trajectory of internally focused revolutionary activity in self-regulated online communities. Based on an analysis of three cases (Reddit, 2015; Mozilla, 2014, and Skyrim, 2015) it identifies six stages of revolution: incident, reaction, mobilization, action, negotiation, and a return to ‘normality’ with a new power equilibrium. For each stage, key events, relations between the community and platform managers, and the ways in which power is enacted through online means, are identified. This preliminary model for online community revolution offers potential for further work that has diagnostic, predictive and ameliorative value. Relations with online communities are of significant value in an era in which many platform-related business models are reliant on voluntary contributions of self-regulating online communities.

scholarly journals Understanding the Internet Pitchfork Mob: Internal Revolutionary Activity in Self-Regulated Online Communities

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
CO McRae ◽  
Jean-Gregoire Bernard ◽  
Jocelyn Cranefield
Keyword(s):  
Social Movements ◽  
Online Communities ◽  
Online Community ◽  
Business Models ◽  
The Internet ◽  
Voluntary Contributions ◽  
Digital Activism ◽  
Preliminary Model ◽  
Key Events ◽  
Value Relations

© 2016 University of Wollongong, Faculty of Business. All rights reserved. Research into organised online protest typically focuses on how digital activism empowers social movements. But what if an online community is rebelling against its platform owners? This study seeks to identify the trajectory of internally focused revolutionary activity in self-regulated online communities. Based on an analysis of three cases (Reddit, 2015; Mozilla, 2014, and Skyrim, 2015) it identifies six stages of revolution: incident, reaction, mobilization, action, negotiation, and a return to ‘normality’ with a new power equilibrium. For each stage, key events, relations between the community and platform managers, and the ways in which power is enacted through online means, are identified. This preliminary model for online community revolution offers potential for further work that has diagnostic, predictive and ameliorative value. Relations with online communities are of significant value in an era in which many platform-related business models are reliant on voluntary contributions of self-regulating online communities.

scholarly journals VALIDIZATION OF THE EMPIRICAL MODEL OF THE DYNAMICS OF INTEGRATION OF INTERNET COMMUNITIES

2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 17-24
Author(s):  
A.M. Ponomarev
Keyword(s):  
Empirical Model ◽  
Online Communities ◽  
Online Community ◽  
The Internet ◽  
Theoretical Conclusion ◽  
Internet Communities ◽  
First Case ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Internet Community ◽  
New Criteria

The article presents the results of a validating study carried out within the framework of the research under the grant "Building predictive models of the dynamics of the development of mobilization-type Internet communities". The aim of the study is to test the empirical model of integration of the Internet community in terms of the validity of the content and the validity of the criteria. The subject of the study is the validity of the criteria and integration factors identified in this model. The research methods are a survey of internal experts and a comparative analysis of assessments of the criteria and factors of integration of the specified model by external and internal experts. The results obtained allow us to conclude that it is correct to identify the criteria and factors for integrating the Internet community at the first stages of the research project. Differences in the assessment by two types of experts of the significance of some criteria and factors of integration of Internet communities receive the fixation of two observation positions - external and internal - as two types of explanation, namely, an understanding and descriptive explanation, respectively. The conducted research not only allows to introduce new criteria and factors of integration into the empirical model of integration of the Internet community, but also to draw an important theoretical conclusion. Online communities in their development manifest both the properties of real social groups and the properties of networks. These two methodological attitudes can be equally successfully applied in the analysis of online communities of the mobilization type. In the first case, analyzing the behavior of the online community as a social group, the dynamics of its mobilization function is mostly recorded. In the second case, analyzing the behavior of a community as a network, the dynamics of its volume and the dynamics of information potential are described to a greater extent.

American Folk Medicine and Health Practices

2018 ◽  
pp. 491-506
Author(s):  
Andrea Kitta
Keyword(s):  
Social Movements ◽  
Online Communities ◽  
Folk Medicine ◽  
Modern Medicine ◽  
The Internet ◽  
Health Practices ◽  
Fat Studies ◽  
Institutional Authority ◽  
Mainstream Medicine ◽  
Source Of Information

Folk medicine and health practices have long been thought to be primarily old-fashioned and antithetical to modern medicine, whereas in actuality they are often used alongside and as a complement to mainstream medicine. The tension between vernacular authority and institutional authority has always been complex, but it has become increasingly so due to the Internet, both as a source of information and as a source of community. Online communities have defined not only how patients create identity but have also helped to define the care they choose and receive. These issues are further complicated by immigration and globalization and the rise in social movements such as feminism, LGBTQ rights, disability studies, and fat studies, among others.

Online Communities. Benefits and Risks

2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 1-13
Author(s):  
Elena Graziani ◽  
Fausto Petrini
Keyword(s):  
Online Communities ◽  
Emotional Support ◽  
Sense Of Belonging ◽  
Online Community ◽  
Empirical Studies ◽  
The Internet ◽  
Inclusion Criteria ◽  
Internet Connection ◽  
Community Access

This article reviews empirical studies from 2008 to 2017 on the effects of participating in online communities. The review uses three databases: PubMed, Scopus and ScienceDirect. The criteria are: (1) online community aimed to provide support by and for people with a common problem; (2) the content of the sessions was determined by users; (3) members met via the Internet; (4) online community was available 24/7; (5) online community access was free and open to everyone with an Internet connection. Of the articles, 13 of 105 met the inclusion criteria. Seven studies reported positive changes: informational and emotional support, increased sense of belonging, less isolation, better medical understanding. Six articles also considered risks: the rise of the level of stress because of successes or failures of other users, the addiction to the forum and the consequent isolation from real relationships.

Social Media and Contentious Politics

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Enrico De Angelis ◽  
Yazan Badran
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Social Movements ◽  
Public Sphere ◽  
Contentious Politics ◽  
The Internet ◽  
Complex Relationship ◽  
Digital Activism ◽  
Theoretical Approaches ◽  
Networked Public Sphere ◽  
Political Decisions

This chapter aims to re-examine the complex relationship between social media and contentious politics following the 2011 uprisings in Egypt and Syria. The chapter explores the contingent, differentiated, and contradictory roles social media played in each of these cases. The authors combine critical theoretical approaches to the internet and situated ethnographic accounts to make sense of this issue along the different phases of mobilization and its aftermath. They argue that the alternative hierarchies of power and visibility engendered by digital activism and facilitated by social media are an essential vehicle when it comes to establishing an effective connection between the street and the networked public sphere in the mobilization phase. In the post-mobilization phase, however, the logics of social media begin to hinder the ability of social movements to coalesce and transform the energy of the street into political decisions or leverage. Finally, they also argue that in the aftermath of mobilization these alternative online hierarchies of power and visibility tend to quickly lose their legitimizing function, which rested upon their, now severed, connection with the street.

Online Communities. Benefits and Risks

2022 ◽  
pp. 37-51
Author(s):  
Elena Graziani ◽  
Fausto Petrini
Keyword(s):  
Online Communities ◽  
Emotional Support ◽  
Sense Of Belonging ◽  
Online Community ◽  
Empirical Studies ◽  
The Internet ◽  
Inclusion Criteria ◽  
Internet Connection ◽  
Community Access

This article reviews empirical studies from 2008 to 2017 on the effects of participating in online communities. The review uses three databases: PubMed, Scopus and ScienceDirect. The criteria are: (1) online community aimed to provide support by and for people with a common problem; (2) the content of the sessions was determined by users; (3) members met via the Internet; (4) online community was available 24/7; (5) online community access was free and open to everyone with an Internet connection. Of the articles, 13 of 105 met the inclusion criteria. Seven studies reported positive changes: informational and emotional support, increased sense of belonging, less isolation, better medical understanding. Six articles also considered risks: the rise of the level of stress because of successes or failures of other users, the addiction to the forum and the consequent isolation from real relationships.

Dealing with Internet Trolling in Political Online Communities

2014 ◽  
Vol 5 (4) ◽  
pp. 1-20 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jonathan Bishop
Keyword(s):  
Online Communities ◽  
Online Community ◽  
Discussion Groups ◽  
The Internet ◽  
Political Discussion ◽  
Original Meaning

Internet trolling has become a popularly used term to describe the posting of any content on the Internet which is provocative or offensive. This is different from the original meaning online in the 1990s, which referred to the posting of provocative messages for humourous effect. Those systems operators (sysops) who run online communities are finding they are being targeted because of abuse posted on their platforms. Political discussion groups are some of the most prone to trolling, whether consensual or unwanted. Many such websites ara open for anyone to join, meaning when some members post messages they know are offensive but legal, others might find grossly offensive, meaning these messages could be illegal. This paper develops a questionnaire called the This Is Why We Can't Have Nice Things Scale (TIWWCHNT-20), which aims to help sysops better plan the development of online communities to take account of different users' capacity to be offended, and for users to self-assess whether they will be suited to an online community. The scale is discussed in relation to different Internet posting techniques where different users will act differently.

Developing and Validating the “This Is Why We Can't Have Nice Things Scale”

2017 ◽  
pp. 153-177 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jonathan Bishop
Keyword(s):  
Online Communities ◽  
Online Community ◽  
Discussion Groups ◽  
The Internet ◽  
Political Discussion ◽  
Original Meaning

Internet trolling describe the posting of any content on the Internet which is provocative or offensive, which is different from the original meaning online in the 1990s, referring to the posting of messages for humourous effect. Those systems operators (sysops) who run online communities are being targeted because of abuse posted on their platforms. Political discussion groups are some of the most prone to trolling, whether consensual or unwanted. Many such websites ara open for anyone to join, meaning when some members post messages they know are offensive but legal, others might find grossly offensive, meaning these messages could be illegal. This paper develops a questionnaire called the This Is Why We Can't Have Nice Things Scale (TIWWCHNT-20), which aims to help sysops better plan the development of online communities to take account of different users' capacity to be offended, and for users to self-assess whether they will be suited to an online community. The scale is discussed in relation to different Internet posting techniques where different users will act differently.

Guardians of the Internet: Building and Sustaining the Anonymous Online Community

2016 ◽  
Vol 38 (7) ◽  
pp. 959-988 ◽  
Author(s):  
Felipe G Massa
Keyword(s):  
Labor Unions ◽  
Online Communities ◽  
Digital Technology ◽  
Online Community ◽  
Empirical Studies ◽  
Community Building ◽  
The Internet ◽  
Building Research ◽  
Political Groups

Online communities have displaced or become complements to organizations such as churches, labor unions and political groups which have traditionally been at the center of collective action. Yet, despite their growing influence and support of faster, cheaper and more flexible organizing, few empirical studies address how online communities are built and become enduring agents of social change. Using Internet-based ethnographic methods, this inductive field study examines how an online community called Anonymous transitioned from being a small gathering of contributors focused on recreation to becoming a community of trolls, activists and hackers incubating myriad projects. Findings reveal that the interplay of digital technology and a culture of transgression supported experimentation that culminated with the adoption of a resilient organizing platform that enabled several community factions to coexist in continuous engagement. This paper infuses community building research with an important emphasis on the role of the techno-cultural, highlighting how online formation and maintenance processes are shaped and shape mutually contingent technologies and cultures.

scholarly journals Social Networking and Transnational Capitalism

2011 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 689-701 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Kreps
Keyword(s):  
Social Networking ◽  
Online Communities ◽  
Social Networking Sites ◽  
Business Models ◽  
Social Dynamics ◽  
The Internet ◽  
The Social ◽  
Business As Usual ◽  
Social Behaviours

Social Networking Sites (SNS) have become a key component of users’ experience of the internet.  Whilst much has been made of the social dynamics of online SNS, the influence of the structures and operations of these sites – and the business models behind them - on users is rarely accounted for.  This paper argues that behind the social behaviours supported by SNS, there is a growing shift towards viewing online communities as commodities, and SNS as an extension of mainstream capitalist ideologies fostered by existing patterns of commercialization and consumption. Using the works of Gramsci, Gill and Hardt & Negri to provide a critical grounding, this paper explores the popular SNS site ‘Facebook’ and suggests that SNS may feel to the users to be free, social, personal, but in fact SNS are business as usual.

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