Online Communities and Online Community Building

2011 ◽  
pp. 2899-2905 ◽  
Author(s):  
Martin C. Kindsmüller ◽  
André Melzer ◽  
Tilo Mentler
Keyword(s):  
Social Interaction ◽  
Online Communities ◽  
Online Community ◽  
Community Building ◽  
Virtual Community ◽  
Community Members ◽  
Active User ◽  
Bulletin Boards ◽  
Technical Functions ◽  
Definition Of

In this article, we define and describe the concept of online communities, outline the essential conditions under which they emerge and present some means that foster the building of online communities. “Online community” is one of the buzzwords in the age of Web 2.0. Within this article, we refer to online community as a voluntary group of users who partake actively in a certain computer-mediated service. The term “online community” is preferred over the term “virtual community,” as it denotes the character of the community more accurately: community members are interacting online as opposed to face-to-face. Furthermore, the term “virtual community” seems too unspecific, because it includes other communities that only exist virtually, whereas, an online community in our definition is always a real community in the sense that community members know that they are a part of their community. Nevertheless, there are other reasonable definitions of online community. An early and most influencing characterization (which unfortunately utilizes the term “virtual community”) was coined by Howard Rheingold (1994). He wrote: “…virtual communities are cultural aggregations that emerge when enough people bump into each other often enough in cyberspace. A virtual community is a group of people […] who exchanges words and ideas through the mediation of computer bulletin boards and networks” (p. 57). A more elaborate and technical definition of online community is given by Jenny Preece (2000), which acts as a benchmark for developers since then. She states that an online community consists of four basic constituents (Preece, 2000, p. 3): • Socially interacting people striving to satisfy their own needs; • A shared purpose like an interest or need that provides a reason to cooperate; • Policies in the form of tacit assumptions, rituals, or rules that guide the community members’ behavior; and • A technical system that works as a carrier that mediates social interaction. Not explicitly mentioned in this characterization, but nevertheless crucial for our aforementioned definition (and not in opposition to Preece’s position), is voluntary engagement (see also Janneck, Finck, & Oberquelle, 2005). As Preece’s (2000) definition indicates, the basic constituents of online communities include individual issues, group-related issues, as well as technology-related issues. Online communities thus comprise the participants’ basic individual motivation, the social interaction processes entailed to “bundle” individual needs to increase efficiency, and the implemented technical functions that support these processes. In the light of the aforementioned role of social processes, it is not surprising that, with respect to online communities, findings from voluntary groups of active user communities outside computer-based systems are also a highly relevant source of information (see e.g., Baumeister & Bushman, 2008). In the section devoted to online community building, we will present Kraut’s (2003) suggestion of a highly-sophisticated application of social psychology theory to address some well-known problems in online communities.

Online Communities and Community Building

2011 ◽  
pp. 2893-2898
Author(s):  
Martin C. Kindsmüller ◽  
Sandro Leuchter ◽  
Leon Urbas
Keyword(s):  
Online Community ◽  
Virtual Communities ◽  
Virtual Community ◽  
Community Members ◽  
Face To Face ◽  
Computer Mediated ◽  
Bulletin Boards ◽  
Real Community ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
Tacit Assumptions

“Online community” is one of today’s buzzwords. Even though superficially it is not hard to understand, the term has become somewhat vague while being extensively used within the e-commerce business. Within this article, we refer to online community as being a voluntary group of users who partake actively in a certain computer-mediated service. The term “online community” is preferred over the term “virtual community,” as it denotes the character of the community more accurately: community members are interacting online as opposed to face to face. Furthermore, the term “virtual community” seems too unspecific, because it includes other communities that only exist virtually, whereas an online community in our definition is always a real community in the sense that community members know that they are part of the community. Nevertheless, there are other reasonable definitions of online community. An early and most influencing characterization (which unfortunately utilizes the term “virtual community”) was coined by Howard Rheingold (1994), who wrote: “…virtual communities are cultural aggregations that emerge when enough people bump into each other often enough in cyberspace. A virtual community is a group of people […] who exchanges words and ideas through the mediation of computer bulletin boards and networks” (p. 57). A more elaborated and technical definition of online community was given by Jenny Preece (2000), which since then, has been a benchmark for developers. She stated that an online community consists of four basic constituents (Preece, 2000, p. 3): 1. Socially interacting people striving to satisfy their own needs. 2. A shared purpose, such as interest or need that provides a reason to cooperate. 3. Policies in the form of tacit assumptions, rituals, or rules that guide the community members’ behavior. 4. A technical system that works as a carrier that mediates social interaction. Not explicitly mentioned in this characterization but nevertheless crucial for our aforementioned definition (and not in opposition to Preece’s position) is voluntary engagement.

Online Communities and Community Building

2005 ◽  
pp. 2203-2208
Author(s):  
Martin C. Kindsmuller ◽  
Sandro Leuchter ◽  
Leon Urbas
Keyword(s):  
Online Communities ◽  
Online Community ◽  
Community Building ◽  
Virtual Community ◽  
Community Members ◽  
Face To Face ◽  
Computer Mediated ◽  
Real Community

“Online community” is one of today’s buzzwords. Even though superficially it is not hard to understand, the term has become somewhat vague while being extensively used within the e-commerce business. Within this article, we refer to online community as being a voluntary group of users who partake actively in a certain computer-mediated service. The term “online community” is preferred over the term “virtual community,” as it denotes the character of the community more accurately: community members are interacting online as opposed to face to face. Furthermore, the term “virtual community” seems too unspecific, because it includes other communities that only exist virtually, whereas an online community in our definition is always a real community in the sense that community members know that they are part of the community.

Elements of the management of norms and their effects on the sense of virtual community

2014 ◽  
Vol 38 (3) ◽  
pp. 436-454 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gregor Petrič ◽  
Andraž Petrovčič
Keyword(s):  
Online Communities ◽  
Online Community ◽  
Virtual Community ◽  
System Level ◽  
Community Management ◽  
Web Survey ◽  
Online Information ◽  
Community Members ◽  
Content Type

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate how decisions of managers and administrators of online communities on norms and rules affect the sense of virtual community (SOVC), which is an important factor of the quality of online information. Design/methodology/approach – The study followed a two-level research design based on 970 online community members, nested within 36 online communities. Data collection consisted of two stages: first a web survey of a sample of online community members was conducted, followed by a web survey of administrators of the same online communities. A two-level hierarchical regression analysis was used to test the hypotheses. Findings – The empirical results suggest that prominence of rules under the condition of members’ participation in their creation, presence of reputation mechanisms, and content moderation contribute significantly to the SOVC , while presence of lighter sanctions and interactive moderation do not. Research limitations/implications – Since this study is based on web forums, the validity of the proposed hypotheses for other types of online communities cannot be firmly established. Additional elements of online community management could be considered for a stronger system-level explanation of the SOVC. Practical implications – The study demonstrates that online community administrators need to be considerate in creating and enforcing norms, as their decisions have an impact on the SOVC and consequently on the quality of online information. Originality/value – The literature considers many factors of the SOVC but none of the previous studies have considered how community management is associated with this phenomenon.

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.

Virtual Community as New Marketing Channel

2011 ◽  
pp. 524-526
Author(s):  
Chingning Wang ◽  
Kangning Wei ◽  
Michelle L. Kaarst-Brown
Keyword(s):  
Online Communities ◽  
Virtual Communities ◽  
Virtual Community ◽  
Marketing Channel ◽  
Social Events ◽  
Internet Users ◽  
Long Run ◽  
Bulletin Boards ◽  
Promotional Messages ◽  
Business Structure

Virtual community is a virtual meeting place where individuals with common areas of interests share information, ideas, experiences, and feelings (Rheingold, 1993) by using information and communication technology (ICT), especially the Internet and the World Wide Web (WWW). It has been taken for granted that people with shared interests would aggregate together. This assumption is equally applicable to the virtual world. As such, a wide variety of discussion topics bring different Internet users together online across time and space. Virtual community has been a pervasive concept emphasizing social aggregation and social events in the computer-mediated environment. This concept has been extended to the horizon of commerce. Hagel and Armstrong (1997) contend in their book, Net Gain, that virtual community could be an important element of a successful Web-based business structure and that community-based business structure helps expand markets for businesses. Businesses have increasingly begun to recognize that they can build their brand images, deliver promotional messages, and retain consumers’ loyalty through online communities. As such, more and more businesses include bulletin boards, discussion groups, and e-mail functions in their business Web sites with the aim to creating a community atmosphere among their customers (Maclaran & Catterall, 2002). This strategy not only helps attract consumers but also helps increase return rate (Hagel, 1999). In the long run, it could promote favorable attitude toward the brand and increase purchasing behavior (Subramaniam, Shaw, & Gardner, 2000). Indeed, virtual communities have opened up new opportunities and established new models for business to reach out and communicate with their consumers. Although the market has become more and more fragmented with the globalization of commerce, virtual communities provide businesses with access to targeted consumers in that various aggregations of Internet users are like different segments of markets. Virtual community indeed has become a new marketing channel for business. Many online communities are business oriented in nature with business participating as organizers, sponsors, or advertisers.

MOOS as Virtual Communities

2011 ◽  
pp. 329-333
Author(s):  
Shannon Roper ◽  
Sharmila Pixy Ferris
Keyword(s):  
Virtual Worlds ◽  
Online Community ◽  
Virtual Communities ◽  
Virtual Community ◽  
The Internet ◽  
Social Constructs ◽  
Book Series ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
Defined Culture

Many researchers have observed that the Internet has changed the concept of virtual communities (Barnes, 2001, 2003; Jones, 1995, 1998; Rheingold, 1993). A unique example of virtual communities is a MOO—a specialized interactive online community that is usually based on a work of fiction such as book series, theater or television (Bartle, 1990). MOOs share many of the features of multi-user dimensions (MUDs) in that both allow participants to create their own virtual worlds, but some researchers consider MOOs to be “more sophisticated” (Barnes, 2001, p. 94). In a MOO community, the participants or “players” create their own virtual communities—fantasy communities complete with world structures, interpersonal norms and social constructs. Individual participants create characters complete with environment, history and personality constructs. The characters interact and influence each other and their environments, just as do the members of real-world communities. The MOO discussed in this case study is based on acclaimed fantasy author Anne McCaffery’s book series set on the fictional world of “Pern.” The players on DragonWings1 MOO create and develop characters over long periods, often many years, leading to the establishment and creation of a strong MOO. In this article we provide a case study of the DragonWings MOO as a unique virtual community. Because the concept of virtual communities is evolving with the Internet, and no definitive understanding of virtual community or virtual culture yet exists, we have chosen to structure our analysis of DragonWings MOO around the classical anthropological definition of culture and community. A seminal definition of culture, first articulated by Tylor (1871), provides the springboard for a number of anthropological definitions widely used today. Building on Tylor, White (1959), a prominent cultural scholar, defined culture as “within human organisms, i.e., concepts, beliefs, emotions, attitudes; within processes of social interaction among human beings; and within natural objects” (p. 237). He also identified symbols as a primary defining characteristic of culture. White’s simple yet comprehensive definition yields clear criteria that lend themselves to our analysis of MOOs. At the broadest level, an application of the criteria provides support for the acceptance of the Internet as a distinct and unique culture. At a more particular level, they provide a convenient tool for the analysis of a MOO as a virtual community. In the remainder of this article, we will utilize the definition outlined above to demonstrate the features that make DragonWings MOO a unique example of a virtual community.

Conception, Categorization, and Impact of HR-Relevant Virtual Communities

2009 ◽  
pp. 154-160
Author(s):  
Anke Diederichsen
Keyword(s):  
Social Interaction ◽  
Virtual Communities ◽  
Economic Value ◽  
Virtual Community ◽  
Bulletin Board ◽  
Negative Effects ◽  
Bulletin Boards ◽  
Potential Applications ◽  
Information And Communication ◽  
E Mail

Virtual community (VC), in its most general sense, is an increasingly popular and apparently omnipresent tool to communicate and interact on the Web. People from diverse backgrounds meet in VCs for likewise diverse purposes: social gatherings, information sharing, entertainment, social, and professional support. The phenomenon of virtual—or online—communities dates back to the late 1960s, when ARPANET, a network for U.S.-military research purposes was established (Licklider & Taylor, 1968). The initially provided e-mail service was later supplemented by a chat functionality. In 1979, virtual social interaction was enabled by USENET use-groups. Here, asynchronous communication is enabled by e-mail and bulletin boards. In the same year, multi user dungeons (MUDs), a new form of text-based virtual reality games were created. In 1985, The WELL was started. This mainly bulletin board-based VC received public attention at least by the publication of the community experiences of one of its most active members, Howard Rheingold. His book also marks the starting point of the virtual community literature (Rheingold, 1993). In the late 1990s, the focus on VCs as Web-based enablers of social interaction (e.g., Wellman, Salaff, Dimitrova, Garton, Gulia, & Haythornthwaite, 1996) shifted to the perception of its potential economic value (e.g., Hagel & Armstrong, 1997). The aim of this article is to depict applications of VCs in human resources (HR)-relevant processes. Applications range from company internal employee communities to company external applicant communities. HR-relevant VCs reflect the increasing utilization of modern information and communication technology (ICT) in human resource management (HRM). The application of VCs in HRM might be beneficial but also may cause negative effects if current trends, are not observed or if the technology is not incorporated strategically. In the following, a definition, a framework, and a categorization of HR-relevant VCs is given. Examples outline potential applications and implications for HRM.

Trusting the Knowledge of Large Online Communities

2011 ◽  
pp. 243-255 ◽  
Author(s):  
John S. Storck ◽  
Lauren E. Storck
Keyword(s):  
Online Communities ◽  
Online Community ◽  
Community Members ◽  
Limited Life ◽  
Effective Leader ◽  
Group Members ◽  
Online Communities Of Practice ◽  
Taking Action ◽  
Important Branch ◽  
Training Practice

The phrase “leading from behind” is borrowed from group analytic theory, an important branch of group psychology. For some, the phrase may be pejorative: an effective leader is normally in front of group members, not taking a position behind them. However, for large online Communities of Practice, leading from behind and trusting the group is an important strategy. This chapter focuses on how a leader develops the capacity to trust the group. Recognizing that groups of people are powerful and creative organisms that can be trusted is difficult for a leader. For Freud, who thought of groups as unthinking, primitive mobs and for modern managers, who are taught the value of using teams with specific objectives and limited life spans, the idea of unstructured, dispersed collections of people making decisions or taking action is an anathema. Learning to trust the knowledge of a large group takes training, practice and courage. We ground our conclusions in an empirical analysis of the leadership of one large online Community of Practice. Using archives of discussions among community members, we develop leadership principles that support the “leading from behind” approach. We use these data to suggest how managers can lead online communities to form the trusting relationships that are essential for effective knowledge sharing and innovation.

Using networked narratives to understand internet book reviews in online communities

2014 ◽  
Vol 32 (1) ◽  
pp. 17-30 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yun Kuei Huang ◽  
Wen I. Yang
Keyword(s):  
Online Communities ◽  
Information Exchange ◽  
Online Community ◽  
Word Of Mouth ◽  
Marketing Strategies ◽  
Community Members ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Word Of Mouth Communication ◽  
Selection Of

Purpose – The aim of this paper was to investigate word-of-mouth communication behavior and other interactions between bloggers writing book testimonials and their community of readers in order to develop a method and strategy for enhancing word-of-mouth communication about books. Design/methodology/approach – This study conducted a netnographic investigation to explore word-of-mouth communication and interactions about new books between bloggers and their community of readers. Netnography is a qualitative approach for exploring the information exchange among online community members. Findings – It was found that personality traits, testimonials, and the responses of community readers to bloggers affected word-of-mouth related to books. Exposure to testimonials with commercial characteristics will not necessarily hinder the word-of-mouth about books. Practical implications – These results may provide a reference for publishers or related businesses that sell books or products via blogs during the planning of their marketing strategies. Originality/value – Businesses value the effects of online communities on marketing communication. This study provides insights into the communication between bloggers and their community of readers by demonstrating how word-of-mouth affects the promotion of books. This could facilitate the selection of relevant recommendations by management.

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