scholarly journals How to Build Sustainable Online Communities: Implications from Lithuania Urban Communities Case Study

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (16) ◽  
pp. 9192
Author(s):  
Aelita Skarzauskiene ◽  
Monika Mačiulienė
Keyword(s):  
Urban Communities ◽  
Online Communities ◽  
Online Community ◽  
Self Regulation ◽  
Organizational Factors ◽  
Social Orientation ◽  
Collective Behaviors ◽  
Community Organizers ◽  
Crowd Effect ◽  
Community Projects

This research aims to extend our knowledge about the factors for increasing participation and sustainability of digitally enhanced communities. Thus, the subject of the research is online community projects which act as the catalysts for collective behaviors exhibited through the crowd effect. Typical to online communities and their social orientation is the use of new forms of self-regulation and self-governance. Sustainable online communities can improve public services and lead to broader civic participation. The communities were analyzed in the course of experimental qualitative research that was conducted in Lithuania. Participants in digital urban communities and initiators of such platforms were interviewed face-to-face. Analysis of the empirical data revealed different motivational, socio-cultural, and organizational factors influencing the sustainable online community ecosystem. According to the research results, community organizers and IT developers should focus on online collaborations through technologies that create social value (collective decision-making tools, gamification, virtual brainstorming, and other technological solutions).

scholarly journals Does Online Community Participation Contribute to Medication Adherence? An Empirical Study of Patients with Chronic Diseases

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (10) ◽  
pp. 5100
Author(s):  
Jyh-Jeng Wu ◽  
Yueh-Mei Chen ◽  
Paul C. Talley ◽  
Kuang-Ming Kuo
Keyword(s):  
Medication Adherence ◽  
Chronic Diseases ◽  
Online Communities ◽  
Emotional Support ◽  
Self Efficacy ◽  
Online Community ◽  
Healthcare Professionals ◽  
Informational Support ◽  
Chronic Patients ◽  
The Relationship

Effectively improving the medication adherence of patients is crucial. Past studies focused on treatment-related factors, but little attention has been paid to factors concerning human beliefs such as trust or self-efficacy. The purpose of this study is to explore the following aspects of patients with chronic diseases: (1) The relationship between emotional support, informational support, self-efficacy, and trust; (2) the relationship between self-efficacy, trust, and medication adherence; and, (3) whether chronic patients’ participation in different types of online communities brings about significant statistical differences in the relationships between the abovementioned variables. A questionnaire survey was conducted in this study, with 452 valid questionnaires collected from chronic patients previously participating in online community activities. Partial Least Squares-Structural Equation Modeling analysis showed that emotional support and informational support positively predict self-efficacy and trust, respectively, and consequently, self-efficacy and trust positively predict medication adherence. In addition, three relationships including the influence of emotional support on trust, the influence of trust on medication adherence, and the influence of self-efficacy on medication adherence, the types of online communities result in significant statistical differences. Based on the findings, this research suggests healthcare professionals can enhance patients’ self-efficacy in self-care by providing necessary health information via face-to-face or online communities, and assuring patients of demonstrable support. As such, patients’ levels of trust in healthcare professionals can be established, which in turn improves their medication adherence.

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.

scholarly journals Researching online communities of inquiry through digital ethnography

2021 ◽  
Vol 102 ◽  
pp. 01006
Author(s):  
Neil Johnson
Keyword(s):  
Online Learning ◽  
Online Education ◽  
Online Communities ◽  
Online Community ◽  
Study Data ◽  
Digital Ethnography ◽  
Use Of Technology ◽  
Ethnographic Data ◽  
Communities Of Inquiry

Research into providing effective online education has suggested an important goal for instructors is the creation of an online community of inquiry (CoI) where social, cognitive, and teacher presence are all important aspects of successful online learning. With reference to a recent reflective practice case study, this paper describes ways that the research on online communities of inquiry may be enriched through the use of digital ethnography. In the target reflective case study, data analysis tasks were designed and presented in an online VoiceThread site, promoting dialogic and multimodal engagement with data from actual research studies that are central to the module theme in teacher education. Interaction around these tasks is coded using the CoI framework. Ethnographic data from the participants was collected and coded using qualitative research protocols to contextualise the interaction data and provide a clearer understanding of how participants had come together throughout the module. The ethnographic data revealed some interesting concerns with online learning, including the use of technology as a barrier to participation.

scholarly journals Online Communities and Open Innovation

Economics ◽  
2015 ◽  
pp. 652-666
Author(s):  
Alberto Francesconi ◽  
Riccardo Bonazzi ◽  
Claudia Dossena
Keyword(s):  
Solar System ◽  
Absorptive Capacity ◽  
Online Communities ◽  
Open Innovation ◽  
Online Community ◽  
Software Tool ◽  
Linear Process ◽  
Innovation Approach

Online communities are becoming an important way to support firms towards an open innovation approach. However, knowledge shared in an online community represents only a potential for firm's innovation aims. The effectiveness of exploration and exploitation of this knowledge depends on firm's absorptive capacity. In this work the authors focus on the time an idea, shared within an online community, takes to be transformed from a ‘potential' into a ‘realized' innovation by a firm. In particular, conceiving knowledge as a trajectory across pole of attraction rather than a linear process, the authors develop a model inspired by the solar system metaphor. Preliminary results from a case study are presented. They suggest firms may improve the effectiveness of absorptive capacity exploiting the mediation role of a software tool.

“Emotional strip-mining”: Sympathy sockpuppets in online communities

2021 ◽  
pp. 146144482110405
Author(s):  
Devon Greyson ◽  
Kaitlin L Costello
Keyword(s):  
Online Communities ◽  
Sense Of Belonging ◽  
Online Community ◽  
Care Work ◽  
Strip Mining ◽  
Knowledge Gap ◽  
Online Deception ◽  
Online Identities

Sympathy sockpuppets are false online identities used for purposes of extracting care work from others. While online community infiltration for nefarious purposes is a well-documented phenomenon, people may also join online communities using deceptive personas (“sockpuppet” accounts) for non-nefarious reasons, such as to gain sympathy or cultivate a sense of belonging in a group. In comparison with scamming and trolling, this more subtle form of online deception is not well understood, and to date, its impacts on individuals and communities have not been fully articulated. This knowledge gap leaves communities without guidance when managing the impacts of this sympathy sockpuppet deception. We interviewed people who had been members of online communities that discovered sympathy sockpuppets in their midst to explore and characterize the phenomenon of sympathy sockpuppetry and to provide guidance for other individuals and communities that encounter similar forms of online deception.

A Framework for Analyzing Online Communities

2012 ◽  
pp. 129-143
Author(s):  
M. Gordon Hunter ◽  
Rosemary Stockdale
Keyword(s):  
Online Communities ◽  
Online Community ◽  
Virtual Communities ◽  
Community Organizations ◽  
Value Proposition ◽  
Group Interactions ◽  
Community Needs ◽  
Important Stage ◽  
Different Types ◽  
Definition Of

This paper examines online communities and describes how they can be differentiated from other Internet supported group interactions. A definition of an online community is given and three generic types are identified. These types are defined by the community models based on the value proposition for the sponsors and members. The value proposition for members is strongly influenced by the model, as facilities and opportunities for interaction are structured by the site sponsors. Where online communities offer fulfillment of specific needs, people participate and become members. Additional benefits enhance the value of membership and encourage retention and greater interactivity. Significant benefits are gained from online communities for businesses, NGOs, other community organizations and individuals. Identifying the different types of communities and their characteristics is an important stage in developing greater understanding of how virtual communities can contribute to businesses, healthcare, community needs and a myriad of other contexts. Examples of the three generic types of online communities are included for further edification.

Using Social Network Analysis to Guide Theoretical Sampling in an Ethnographic Study of a Virtual Community

2011 ◽  
pp. 157-174 ◽  
Author(s):  
Enrique Murillo
Keyword(s):  
Social Network ◽  
Social Network Analysis ◽  
Network Analysis ◽  
Online Communities ◽  
Online Community ◽  
Virtual Community ◽  
Ethnographic Study ◽  
Qualitative Studies ◽  
The Social ◽  
Theoretical Sampling

Social Network Analysis (SNA) provides a range of models particularly well suited for mapping bonds between participants in online communities and thus reveal prominent members or subgroups. This can yield valuable insights for selecting a theoretical sample of participants or participant interactions in qualitative studies of communities. This chapter describes a procedure for collecting data from Usenet newsgroups, deriving the social network created by participant interaction, and importing this relational data into SNA software, where various cohesion models can be applied. The technique is exemplified by performing a longitudinal core periphery analysis of a specific newsgroup, which identified core members and provided clear evidence of a stable online community. Discussions dominated by core members are identified next, to guide theoretical sampling of text-based interactions in an ongoing ethnography of the community.

Online Communities of Practice as Vehicles for Teacher Professional Development

2012 ◽  
pp. 142-166 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maria Meletiou-Mavrotheris
Keyword(s):  
Professional Development ◽  
Online Communities ◽  
Online Community ◽  
Statistics Education ◽  
Successful Implementation ◽  
Geographically Dispersed ◽  
Service Training ◽  
Information And Communication ◽  
Teacher Professional ◽  
Online Communities Of Practice

The affordances offered by modern Internet technologies provide new opportunities for the pre-service and in-service training of teachers, making it possible to overcome the restrictions of shrinking resources and geographical locations and to offer high quality learning experiences to geographically dispersed teachers. The focus of this chapter is the question of how information and communication tools made available online could be effectively exploited to build and study network-based services with the aim of fostering online communities that promote teacher learning and development. The chapter presents an overview of the main experiences gained from a study which investigated the forms of collaboration and shared knowledge building undertaken by a multinational group of teachers participating in EarlyStatistics, an online professional development in statistics education targeting European elementary and middle school mathematics teachers. Findings from the study provide insights into the factors that may facilitate or hinder the successful implementation of an online community of teaching practitioners.

Online Communities of Practice and Web 2.0

2016 ◽  
pp. 265-292
Author(s):  
Amir Manzoor
Keyword(s):  
Communities Of Practice ◽  
Web 2.0 ◽  
Community Of Practice ◽  
Online Communities ◽  
Online Community ◽  
Management Communication ◽  
Organizational Goals ◽  
The People ◽  
Online Tools ◽  
Online Communities Of Practice

In contemporary Knowledge Management, communication and collaboration play very significant role. Knowledge exists within the stakeholders of an organization. Such knowledge, when extracted and harnessed effectively, can become an extremely valuable asset to achieve organizational goals and objectives. This knowledge, embedded in the people, must be properly released through an appropriate channel to make it usable. Through dialogue and discussions, using online tools, this release and reuses of knowledge can be made possible. The Community of Practice (CoP) is a useful organizing concept for enhancing collaboration, sharing knowledge, and disseminating best practices among researchers and practitioners. This chapter explores the concept of Communities of Practice and how Web 2.0 technologies can facilitate the transformation from a conventional community of practice to online community of practice for better and effective online communities of practices.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document