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Online Communities

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Defining Online Communities

Community – feeling of membership, sense of involvement, shared interests

A community is a set of interwoven relationships, built upon shared interests.

Relationships imply a higher degree of commitment and intensity than interactions.

Community Characteristics 1. Internet communication tools: email, chat rooms, bulletin boards 2. Rules defining community membership 3. Collaborative production of materials by members 4. Repeat use by members

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Ten Criteria that define Successful Community, p. 393

People Criteria Membership by choice (don’t subscribe automatically to mailing list) Critical mass and sustainability (chat rooms and bulletin boards active and current) Sense of trust

Process Criteria Benefits in scale Roles not imposed or hierarchical* (responsibilities voluntary, no “boss”) Facilitation and site structure keep community on track (moderators avoid flame wars

and keep content focused)Culture Criteria

A spirit of participation and feedback (sustained but not dominated by minority) A sense of affiliation through equity (incentives to participate, but watch out)

Technology Criteria Efficiency in interaction– mailing list, bulletin boards, chat (depends on nature of

community) Easily navigable– meaningful subdivisions

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CommunitiesRayport and Jaworski

Community – feeling of membership, sense of involvement, shared interests Community archetypes: 1. Bazaar –many sub-areas; no meaningful interaction 2. Theme park – Interests grouped, multiple communities, interaction but no strong bonds 3. Club – lots of interaction; focused on one area 4. Shrine – focus, minimal interaction, high enthusiasm 5. Theatre – Interaction is part of content 6. Café – Primary focus is on conversation btwn members

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Value of Online CommunitiesHagel and Armstrong

Communities of transaction buy, sell, deliver info e.g. Virtual Vineyards

Communities of Interest Special topics, high degree of interpersonal communication, e.g.

GardenWeb, Motley Fool

Communities of fantasy Red Dragon Inn, ESPNet

Communities of relationship life experiences, cancer forum, divorce

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Communities (Mohammed et al.)

Three Types of Shared Interests , p. 401

1. Information-driven communities (built upon shared interests in information) Tips, opinions, discussions (Motley Fool)

2. Activity-driven communities (shared interests in activity)– Ebay, Sierra Club, EverQuest3. Commonality-driven (shared interests out of a commonality) – profession, ethnicity, age, weight

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Types of Successful Community, p. 419

1. Search Communities (search for old friend, classmate)2. Trading communities (eBay)3. Education Communities (University of Phoenix)4. Event-based (schedules, locations, logistics)5. Subscriber-based – rely on critical mass (forums, etc.)6. Advocacy-based (passion for the cause)

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Virtualvineyard.com / Wine.com

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GardenWeb.com

The GardenWeb Forums The GardenWeb Forums comprise the largest community of gardeners on the Internet. Covering more than 90 different plants, regions and topics, the forums allow you to tap the collective wisdom of the thousands of other users who visit GardenWeb each day. You can post queries on plant care, how to deal with a landscaping problem or perhaps initiate a discussion on your favorite subject.

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Defining Online Communities

Community Characteristics 1. Internet communication tools: email, chatrooms, bulletin boards 2. Rules defining community membership 3. Collaborative production of materials by members 4. Repeat use by members

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Communication Tools

Communication Rings – Communication rings send messages directly between individuals. Everyone in the ring gets all the messages.

Content Trees – Hierarchies that create manageable discussions. INDIRECT large scale communication. Central gathering points such as bulletin boards or a web site, to collect and store information.

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Types of Community Tools

Communication Rings Content Trees

E-mail lists Usenet

Net pagers Bulletin boards

Groupware Chat rooms

Games and Simulations Virtual worlds

Web sites

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Internet Pagers

Internet Pagers: ICQ, AOL instant messaging

Text-based telephoneImmediacyLack of structure“User online” notificationDirect chats between membersICQ # that can be “called”Both one-on-one and group communication

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Groupware

Technologies that lead to collaboration and sharing between membersProductivity orientedMethods for remote individuals to share software, files, and ideasExamples: Group design software, shared digital workspaces

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BULLETIN BOARD SYSTEM

An electronic message center. Most bulletin boards serve specific interest groups. They allow you to review messages left by others, and leave your own message if you want.

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Usenet

Refers collectively to all sites that participate in the exchange of network news, regardless of the type of network used. Network news is the Internet equivalent of a discussion group or a "electronic bulletin board" system. Network news organizes discussions under a set of broad headings called newsgroups. USENET is not a computer network, it is not software, and it does not require the Internet. It is a set of voluntary rules for passing and maintaining newsgroups (Krol, 1994). Sites that do not use the Internet continue to participate in network news using other communication networks, including BITNET and the dial-up telephone system.

Google newsgroups – alt.* ; rec.*

UTD newsgroups – utd.*

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Virtual World

Also referred to as a Persistent State World (PSW), a Virtual World is a place you co-inhabit with hundreds of thousands of other people simultaneously. It’s persistent in that the world exists independent of your presence, and in that your actions can permanently shape the world.

“What if you could take on a new persona? One that you could make into anything you wanted. That wasn't limited by physical, economic, or social restraints. That could be anything and everything you ever imagined. If you've ever felt like you wanted to step out of yourself, your life, into one that was full of fantasy and adventure - virtual worlds offer you this opportunity.”

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Ultima Online

Ultima Online: Members create personalized characters that need to earn their place in the virtual world. Wealth and status require effort: “A citizen of this vast land is born naked and accumulates clothing and possessions, whether by making, buying, or stealing them. With practice, players become more powerful and skillful.”

“There are thousands of items in the game that you can make, buy, or carry and with over dozens of unique skills to master, you’ll never run out ways to continuously evolve your character and your online persona.” “Thousands of game masters, counselors, interest volunteers and companions are in the game night and day to make sure that the world of Ultima Online stays fresh and exciting.”

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Community members

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Offline community rules

FamilyReligionCitizenshipLanguageInitiation rites

Common interests

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Offline and Online Community Rules

Strong vs. weak membership rules Strong: membership difficult to obtain

Long initiation rites and challenging tasks

Result in strong ties

Examples: School alumni, fraternities, military veterans Weak: membership easily accomplished

No barriers to entry

Result in weak ties

Celebrity fan clubs, shopping clubs, frequent flier membership

Charities’ “checkbook members” – do not identify closely with goals and objectives of the charity

Marketing Perspective: No commitments or participation from weak community members.

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Community rules

Escalating membership rules e.g. Cumulative usage Easily attained membership Full benefits require “graduation” Churches, airlines, online role-playing games (Ultima Online)

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Focus

Focus is critical to online communities

-- The more concentrated the community focus, the easier it is for search engines and directories to point potential members to the community.--Content focus triggers search engines to return a site HIGH on the result list.--Sophisticated search engines use content hierarchies to put relevance weights on pages

Usenet discussion groups are an example for both focus and lack of focus:

Focus: Barney hating (alt.die-barney), …Lack of focus: Influx of novice users and spam.

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The “death of Usenet”

Alt.barney.dinosaur.die.die.dieAlt.tv.dinosaurs.barney.die.die.dieAlt.religion.barneyAlt.satannet.barney

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alt.tv.baywatch (3T(B) 3A 0K 0H R ) 1 + 4 WARHOL SAYS: TO STUPID TO BE A WARHOL' Warhol 3 2 CloneHill NewsReader

alt.tv.melrose-place (3T(B) 2A 0K 0H R ) 1 + 15 anybody on this newsgroup? wonka 2 2 ** GOLD-DIPPED ROSES FOR YOUR VALENTIN 3 + 15 Millionaire Spelling Edition pertifly

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How to create value out of communities

Usage fees Communities need to maximize # of members more usage, chat - move to flat fees

Content fees - per download

Transactions and advertising

Synergies - CISCO

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Cisco-centric open source community

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Community Potential

How large is the potential? Potential is a function of

Number of participants Frequency of use intensity of interaction Demographics for advertising Propensity to transact often

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Operating the community

Executive moderator

– manage large number of system operators

– moderate discussions

– transform low quality to intense interaction Community merchandiser Executive editor - programming, external content

Archivist Usage analyst New product developer