Cyber-Identities and Social Life in Cyberspace

2010 ◽  
pp. 27-39 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eleni Berki ◽  
Mikko Jäkälä
Keyword(s):  
Social Life ◽  
Virtual Communities ◽  
Identity Management ◽  
Virtual Community ◽  
Social Boundaries ◽  
Social Software ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Future Research Agenda ◽  
Information And Communication ◽  
Definition Of

Information and communication technology gradually transform virtual communities to active meeting places for sharing information and for supporting human actions, feelings and needs. In this chapter the authors examine the conceptual definition of virtual community as found in the traditional cyberliterature and extend it to accommodate latest cybertrends. Similar to the ways that previous social and mass media dissolved social boundaries related to time and space, cyber-communities and social software seem to also dissolve the boundaries of identity. This, in turn, questions the trust, privacy and confidentiality of interaction. The authors present a way of classifying and viewing self-presentation regarding cyber-identity management in virtual communities. It is based on the characteristics that cyber-surfers prefer to attribute to themselves and accordingly present themselves to others. In so doing, the authors coin the terms for five distinct phenomena, namely nonymity, anonymity, eponymity, pseudonymity and polynymity. They subsequently compare and contrast these terms, summarising information from their investigation, and outlining emerging questions and issues for a future research agenda.

Cyber-Identities and Social Life in Cyberspace

2010 ◽  
pp. 92-104 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eleni Berki ◽  
Mikko Jäkälä
Keyword(s):  
Social Life ◽  
Virtual Communities ◽  
Identity Management ◽  
Virtual Community ◽  
Social Boundaries ◽  
Social Software ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Future Research Agenda ◽  
Information And Communication ◽  
Definition Of

Information and communication technology gradually transform virtual communities to active meeting places for sharing information and for supporting human actions, feelings and needs. In this chapter the authors examine the conceptual definition of virtual community as found in the traditional cyberliterature and extend it to accommodate latest cybertrends. Similar to the ways that previous social and mass media dissolved social boundaries related to time and space, cyber-communities and social software seem to also dissolve the boundaries of identity. This, in turn, questions the trust, privacy and confidentiality of interaction. The authors present a way of classifying and viewing self-presentation regarding cyber-identity management in virtual communities. It is based on the characteristics that cyber-surfers prefer to attribute to themselves and accordingly present themselves to others. In so doing, the authors coin the terms for five distinct phenomena, namely nonymity, anonymity, eponymity, pseudonymity and polynymity. They subsequently compare and contrast these terms, summarising information from their investigation, and outlining emerging questions and issues for a future research agenda.

Cyber-Identities and Social Life in Cyberspace

2011 ◽  
pp. 13-25
Author(s):  
Eleni Berki ◽  
Mikko Jäkälä
Keyword(s):  
Social Life ◽  
Virtual Communities ◽  
Identity Management ◽  
Virtual Community ◽  
Social Boundaries ◽  
Social Software ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Future Research Agenda ◽  
Information And Communication ◽  
Definition Of

Information and communication technology gradually transform virtual communities to active meeting places for sharing information and for supporting human actions, feelings and needs. In this chapter the authors examine the conceptual definition of virtual community as found in the traditional cyberliterature and extend it to accommodate latest cybertrends. Similar to the ways that previous social and mass media dissolved social boundaries related to time and space, cyber-communities and social software seem to also dissolve the boundaries of identity. This, in turn, questions the trust, privacy and confidentiality of interaction. The authors present a way of classifying and viewing self-presentation regarding cyber-identity management in virtual communities. It is based on the characteristics that cyber-surfers prefer to attribute to themselves and accordingly present themselves to others. In so doing, the authors coin the terms for five distinct phenomena, namely nonymity, anonymity, eponymity, pseudonymity and polynymity. They subsequently compare and contrast these terms, summarising information from their investigation, and outlining emerging questions and issues for a future research agenda.

Trust in Virtual Communities

2008 ◽  
pp. 2500-2504
Author(s):  
Eun G. Park
Keyword(s):  
Virtual Communities ◽  
Virtual Community ◽  
Integrated Approach ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Trust Building ◽  
Web Based ◽  
Trust Establishment ◽  
Cultural Aspects ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
Technical Solutions

Trust is one of the key factors that emerged as a significant concept in virtual communities. Trust is so complicated that it is hard to define in one standardized way. Trust issues have evolved into two major ways in the fields of virtual community and security. Among a huge literature concerning trust in virtual communities, a majority of literature addresses technical solutions on trust-building by providing new Web-based applications. They range from human users authorization, semantic Web, agent technologies and access control of network to W3C standardization for content trust and security. Some examples include AT&T’s Policymaker or IBM’s Trust Establishment Module (Blaze, Feigenbaum, & Lacy, 1996; Herzberg, 2000). Only a minority deals with understanding the concept of trust and sources of trust-building from social and cultural aspects. It appears to miss the essence of trust in virtual communities, although an integrated approach is needed for building trust in communication and the use of virtual communities. This article aims to present the definition of trust and relevant concepts for recognizing sources of trust-building in virtual communities. This article also presents future research implications for further development on trust and trust-building in virtual communities.

Trust in Virtual Communities

2011 ◽  
pp. 449-451
Author(s):  
Eun G. Park
Keyword(s):  
Virtual Communities ◽  
Virtual Community ◽  
Integrated Approach ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Trust Building ◽  
Web Based ◽  
Trust Establishment ◽  
Cultural Aspects ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
Technical Solutions

Trust is one of the key factors that emerged as a significant concept in virtual communities. Trust is so complicated that it is hard to define in one standardized way. Trust issues have evolved into two major ways in the fields of virtual community and security. Among a huge literature concerning trust in virtual communities, a majority of literature addresses technical solutions on trust-building by providing new Web-based applications. They range from human users authorization, semantic Web, agent technologies and access control of network to W3C standardization for content trust and security. Some examples include AT&T’s Policymaker or IBM’s Trust Establishment Module (Blaze, Feigenbaum, & Lacy, 1996; Herzberg, 2000). Only a minority deals with understanding the concept of trust and sources of trust-building from social and cultural aspects. It appears to miss the essence of trust in virtual communities, although an integrated approach is needed for building trust in communication and the use of virtual communities. This article aims to present the definition of trust and relevant concepts for recognizing sources of trust-building in virtual communities. This article also presents future research implications for further development on trust and trust-building in virtual communities.

Exploring the Common Ground of Virtual Communities

2002 ◽  
pp. 67-75 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vanessa Dirksen ◽  
Bas Smit
Keyword(s):  
Virtual Communities ◽  
Common Ground ◽  
Social Activity ◽  
Virtual Community ◽  
Constructive Work ◽  
Information And Communication ◽  
Actual Field ◽  
The Common ◽  
Research Questions ◽  
Definition Of

A great deal of the literature on virtual communities evolves around classifying the phenomenon1 while much empirically constructive work on the topic has not been conducted yet. Therefore, the research discussed in this paper proposes to explore the actual field of the virtual community (VC). By means of a comparative ethnographic research, virtual communities are to be defined in terms of their inherent social activity, the interaction between the groups of people and the information and communication technology (ICT), and the meanings attached to it by its members. This chapter will report on the initial propositions, research questions and approach of the explorative research of working towards a “workable definition” of virtual communities. It will also present its “work to be done” which will ultimately form the basis of moving beyond defining virtual communities, i.e., actually designing and deploying one.

Identification vs. Self-Verification in Virtual Communities (VC)

2012 ◽  
pp. 208-236 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kathy Ning Shen
Keyword(s):  
Research Agenda ◽  
Virtual Communities ◽  
Virtual Community ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Comprehensive Review ◽  
Future Research Agenda ◽  
Identity Processes ◽  
Theoretical Perspectives ◽  
Prior Literature ◽  
Practical Implications

Identity-related processes have been identified as important in explaining virtual community (VC) member behavior as well as informing system design of VCs. In particular, the two distinct identity processes of self-verification and identification have been identified and investigated separately, portrayed as two distinctive or contradictory identity processes with different practical implications. This chapter compares and reconciles these two theoretical perspectives in explaining VC participation. Based on a critical and comprehensive review of prior literature, the author identifies three major theoretical gaps that suggest how VC research and management can be advanced through an identity perspective. Finally, the chapter is concluded by discussing key implications of applying identity perspectives in VC research and future research agenda.

Understanding Social Capital Formation for Knowledge Sharing in Virtual Communities

2011 ◽  
pp. 136-155
Author(s):  
Shafiz A. Mohd Yusof
Keyword(s):  
Social Capital ◽  
Knowledge Sharing ◽  
Social Exchange ◽  
Social Exchange Theory ◽  
Virtual Communities ◽  
Elementary Theory ◽  
Virtual Community ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Future Research Agenda ◽  
The Social

This chapter attempts to explore the possibility of building social capital in virtual community(VC) by first introducing the phenomenon, its problems and context, types of VCs and the significance of knowledge sharing. This chapter then presents the process of social capital from a sociological standpoint where two main theories will be used—the elementary theory of social structure and the social exchange theory as the backbone of the arguments. By integrating both theories, a conceptual framework that includes six antecedents to develop social capital is provided. Subsequently, the propositions are expressed in terms of implications to the sociological approach of VC and some conclusions are made by including some future research agenda.

Understanding Social Capital Formation for Knowledge Sharing in Virtual Communities

2011 ◽  
pp. 2412-2432
Author(s):  
Shafiz A. Mohd Yusof
Keyword(s):  
Social Capital ◽  
Knowledge Sharing ◽  
Social Exchange ◽  
Social Exchange Theory ◽  
Virtual Communities ◽  
Elementary Theory ◽  
Virtual Community ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Future Research Agenda ◽  
The Social

This chapter attempts to explore the possibility of building social capital in virtual community(VC) by first introducing the phenomenon, its problems and context, types of VCs and the significance of knowledge sharing. This chapter then presents the process of social capital from a sociological standpoint where two main theories will be used—the elementary theory of social structure and the social exchange theory as the backbone of the arguments. By integrating both theories, a conceptual framework that includes six antecedents to develop social capital is provided. Subsequently, the propositions are expressed in terms of implications to the sociological approach of VC and some conclusions are made by including some future research agenda.

Identification vs. Self-Verification in Virtual Communities (VC)

2014 ◽  
pp. 1231-1259
Author(s):  
Kathy Ning Shen
Keyword(s):  
Research Agenda ◽  
Virtual Communities ◽  
Virtual Community ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Comprehensive Review ◽  
Future Research Agenda ◽  
Identity Processes ◽  
Theoretical Perspectives ◽  
Prior Literature ◽  
Practical Implications

Identity-related processes have been identified as important in explaining virtual community (VC) member behavior as well as informing system design of VCs. In particular, the two distinct identity processes of self-verification and identification have been identified and investigated separately, portrayed as two distinctive or contradictory identity processes with different practical implications. This chapter compares and reconciles these two theoretical perspectives in explaining VC participation. Based on a critical and comprehensive review of prior literature, the author identifies three major theoretical gaps that suggest how VC research and management can be advanced through an identity perspective. Finally, the chapter is concluded by discussing key implications of applying identity perspectives in VC research and future research agenda.

The Regional Innovation Capacity Model

2012 ◽  
pp. 243-256
Author(s):  
Antonio Lerro ◽  
Giovanni Schiuma
Keyword(s):  
Local System ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Regional Innovation ◽  
Knowledge Based ◽  
Future Research Agenda ◽  
Capacity Model ◽  
Innovation Dynamics ◽  
Innovation Capacity ◽  
Definition Of

This chapter aims to present a conceptual model aimed to understand the Intellectual Capital-based (IC) characteristics of the regional innovation capacity. The proposed Regional Innovation Capacity Model (RICM) can be used for interpretative and normative purposes to analyse the innovation dynamics taking place at regional and territorial level. From an interpretative point of view, the model identifies the pillars grounding the innovation capacity of a local system. While, from a normative perspective, the model can inspire the definition of guidelines driving the design and the implementation of actions, projects and programmes aimed to stimulate and sustain regional development dynamics. The RICM adopts a knowledge-based perspective assuming that IC, in the forms of regional knowledge assets, and knowledge dynamics, in the form of knowledge transfer and learning processes, are the drivers of innovative processes and outputs. The chapter concludes proposing a future research agenda.

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