Online Resources on Virtual Communities

What are Virtual Online Communities?

A community is a gathering of individuals who contribute to the formation and definition of the community. Individuals must participate in achieving the interests of the community and communicate with other members in order to be considered part of the network that makes a community function as a cohesive living space for its members. A virtual community may not occur in the actual physical presence of its members, but it does have a physical space on the computer screens of each individual member. Through the computer virtual space becomes real space. Virtual communities consist of real experiences and relationships between the people behind the keyboards. Esther Dyson, in her book Release 2.0: A Design for Living in the Digital Age, lists the basic principles for what constitutes a community:

1. Each member should know what motivates her to be part of the community--what she will give to it and what she anticipates to get from it.
2. There should be a means of determining who is actually part of the community.
3. Members of the community should feel a sense of ownership--high investment and a reason to stay.
4. Each community should have structure and rules--and ultimately consequences if the boundaries or regulations are broken.

Builder.com :  describes virtual communities as similar, yet unique to real communities because "unlike their real-world counterparts, online communities give members unique control over how they communicate. Interaction can range from a private talk among four friends in a chat room to an ongoing conversation among hundreds of people who share a common interest." The key to a community's survival, according to this site, is freedom to evolve and grow in response to the members needs. Three of the ten tips provided on the site as guidelines to building communities that attract traffic and appeal to the needs of web users are:

Tip #4: Offering /making a variety of links to discussion groups on each page

This is key to establishing a network of communication and virtual interaction.

Tip #7: Remembering it is the community of those who use it too

This can be difficult for creators and members to understand because everyone can feel the desire to control a bit too much. Communities should find a balance and respect changes that may take on new structure for the community. If the community does have a moderator, then she/he/they should be sensitive and non-dictatorial in order to keep users involved.

Tip #8: Purpose Personality

When one decides to create a community, she should seek out moderators who will practice good judgement when dealing with other members or initializing topics for conversation. Temperament and sensitivity are qualities to consider. Entertaining and informative conversation rather than "flame wars" ensures a cohesive community.

The purpose of virtual communities is a complex question because it depends on the needs or motivations of the individuals involved. The purpose can be purely business, information, or entertainment. People join communities because they can identify with other members and they have a distinctive pattern of interaction. Those who create online communities do so in hope that others who share their interests will become active participants in keeping the community alive and use it as a means of empowerment or information.

An example of individuals joining together in order to establish this type of networking are support groups. There are thousands of support groups online and one that I stumbled across while doing research on the Net is A National Support Group for Arthrogryposis Multiplex Congenita that publishes a monthly newsletter Avenues. I did not think I would find any information online about arthrogryposis because it is a rare disability, but this community of parents and individuals with the disability are using a place on the Net to meet and share ideas. The newsletter has bulletin postings and other useful information, including a link to chat rooms. The purpose of such support groups, which essentially are communities, is to give people that human interaction they need. It is a place to ask questions, find answers, give advise, and take part in affecting the lives of others who connect with you through your collaborative virtual home.

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How do Virtual Communities work?

A virtual community is a product of its members. An individual or a group can create a community in various forms. A web site with links to chat rooms or interactive sites like MUDs are types of communities that involve two or more people engaging in some type of interaction. These same users must continuously visit and contribute to the community, however, to be considered actual members. Esther Dyson (p. 48-49) describes some circumstances in which communities do not work: a) a community of lurkers who merely observe and don't participate, even if they visit frequently, doesn't work because members need some identity and value to the community b) groups of pseudonymous members, like those in anonymous self-help groups, do not work unless the members have persistent identities c) communities who isolate themselves for the purpose of sharing lies or illusions which would have serious consequences in reality. Good virtual communities, or at least long-lasting ones, succeed because they adhere to many of the guidelines that foster good real communities. They have structure, harmony, and a purpose for existing.

Virtual communities spread as a result of many factors. Accessibility and attractiveness can lure members, but the climate of the community ultimately determines the bonds and continued networking. If my site is advertised and easy to link to from several other related sites, sure the word gets out that my community exists, but it won't spread in terms of participants if it is, for example, a hostile chatroom or listserv with no real purpose. Successful communities may spread because members "tell a friend" or because there is a growing need for the community to exist.

Two categories of communities that Esther Dyson distinguishes in her book are profit and non-profit. For-profit communities are analogous to any real meeting place (health club, extracurricular clubs) where there may be a membership fee to enter or where an "owner" may profit from use of the space. I am part of a huge community of netizens that pay a monthly fee to America Online for the space it allows me to utilize. I have also participated in some online shopping at eBay, an interactive online auction similar to the one described in Dyson's book. I found this site while looking for a particular doll online that I couldn't find in the local stores. It is a personal trading community and registration is free. The community has four to five different chat areas where members can chat on bulletin boards. The second category of communities are Not-for-Profit. They include museums, interest groups, and some support groups. For a more complete discussion and factual information about the categories of online communities, read through some of the excellent Generation 8 reports.

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Case History of a Virtual Community

Café Utne

People thinking about starting communities are encouraged to approach it as if you were a host throwing a good party. "You need some dynamic people and a critical mass of visitors." Café Utne has applied this principle to its design and now has 43,000 registered members as of fall 1997, with some 3,000 people showing up six to eight times per month. (The print version of the Utne Reader has 205,000 subscribers.) A staff manager and a conferencing coordinator oversee the site.

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My Involvement in a Virtual Community

I am a member of the large community of Net users and America Online subscribers. In such a vast group of members, I can hardly say that my presence is noticed or even meaningful. Well?. maybe since I am publishing my work and people will be accessing it (hopefully) I could say that I have given something to the community, but really I can't say that this constitutes membership in a virtual community according to the definition I have given in this report. I am still looking around at communities that interest me enough that I will contribute my time devotedly. I just started to explore some of the larger ones, like Cybertown which have several smaller colonies with political types of structures within them and policies about community involvement.

I am a member of an online discussion group for this Psychology course and I think it is an example of a successful virtual community. The moderator is the professor, Dr. Leon James, and the community consists of three psychology sections that discuss different topics. Membership requires that the user is enrolled in one of the sections, however I do not think that there is a security measure that keeps others from lurking. In other words, anyone could enter I suppose. The moderator gives out a topic and asks the members to comment and discuss it. Members can comment on issues in the other sections. The purpose of the community is to increase understanding of the course material and give classmates or fellow psychology students an opportunity to communicate ideas and share insight. The climate is respectful and professional. Members contribute because they share common goals---intellectual exchanges, class participation points. I know that I feel a sense of ownership to this group because I have participated in developing it and because I have seen the value in the interactions. The difference between this group and other successful communities is that it will cease at the close of the semester and its life will continue with new students in the spring semester.

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The significance of Virtual Communities

Virtual communities exist as a different form of group activity that transcends the physical and becomes a gathering of intellect and mind. They allow people to create physical presence in Cyberspace. They are significant because they are real human interactions. They exist out of individual motives combined in a network of intellectual property. They are based on the trust between the people behind the computer screens. A user has options that are not always possible in physical communities. A user has the choice of concealing her identity behind an avatar or leaving a community if it doesn't interest or serve her anymore. It is convenient and based on more freedom of choice (at least so far) than our physical communities where individuals are forced to adhere to those who exercise control and can not leave as easily. Virtual places can resemble real communities in several ways though. It depends on how much members take control and how the appointed members who maintain the community build it to please the "public"--sounds like real politics to me.

I am interested in a community in Cybertown called the ColonyCity because it resembles the evolutionary process of virtual communities into face-to-face communities. This area has a political structure consisting of a Mayor and City Council. The social strata structure is a hierarchy of members based on community involvement. Members can earn credit to buy merchandise in the city shops. Citizens are the next group on the social ladder. They are residents who actively participate in the community as writers, leaders, or security personnel. They earn more credits and can customize their avatars. The elders are the highest group because they have proven their value to the community and have participated for more than a year. They earn a higher rate of credit and can accumulate wealth faster.

All classes have the option to buy merchandise for their homes. People can buy, rent, and sell homes. As a security measure, people can establish passwords as keys to enter her/his home so that only friends or acquaintances can enter. **I wonder if anyone has been caught stealing furniture out of homes in cyberspace--seems silly but who wants to put effort into getting credit, buying furniture, and then someone steals it!**There is also a constitution that outlines the laws and etiquette for the city. Punishments include gagging, exile for a certain period of time, and banishment forever. There are laws about sexist, racist, and other derogatory materials. There is a security personnel that occasionally drops in chat rooms to make sure everyone is following the rules, although it is stated that individuals can have privacy in the home (so people can be sexist, racist, or anarchist at home just not in public?). There are also security measures that each individual can take if harassed, like refusing private messages or instantly creating a private room that the harasser can't enter.

The structures of the city are very similar to a face-to-face community, especially the social and political systems. The rich will get richer here too, except that everyone has the potential to achieve earned credit and property wealth if she/he invests deeply into the community. I guess if I have the time to contribute to the city I can ensure myself equal opportunity. I wonder if there will eventually be neighborhoods where the affluent investors reside or if crime (slander, copyright violations, hacking?) will become an issue like it exists in "real" cities--it is very possible. I am sure there will be subgroups within the community who will benefit from whom they chat with or interact with just like our real relationships in life tend to influence our social status to an extent. The city intrigued me because of the attractive earned credit/social status motto; much like democracy seems so ideal. There will be shortcomings in virtual cities too though, including exploitation and discrimination. It seems like only a matter of evolution.

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Two Previous Generation Reports on Virtual Community

Maeri Choi's Report- Psychology of Online Virtual Relationships: My Visit To Cyberspace

Ms Choi's report was very different than this report because the instructions required an exploration of types of virtual communities, so the report was separated into community categories (Chatrooms, Forums, Clubs, Lobbies, Conferences). Each section had a fact sheet format. Examples of each category were given with basic information about each. She entered two different chatrooms to get the feel of them and she describes one of her experiences as slightly negative: "The most anyone said to me was..."hi and welcome, where from?"  I felt a bit rejected." This is something that is expected when one enters a new area and the social roles and relationship in the community have existed for a while. This sounds like moving to a new school and trying to make new friends. Her involvement with the other types of communities was minimal, so she really didn't share a lot of response or personal reactions to them. I felt that what she did learn from the report was valuable too. She discovered that community and relationships via the Net are not strictly in the form of chatrooms, a concept I also discovered with experience browsing the Net. She also makes a good point about convenience: "For instance, I could visit places all over the world, talk to people from many different countries using my many different identities:), shop and buy things from several malls, apply for jobs, get some therapy, read some movie reviews, and stop in a cafe to have a ice mochaccino with a celebrity, all in one day.  Now, could I really do that physically?  I DON'T THINK SO.  I love it!!!"  I love the convenience of taking care of several tasks without leaving my home--research especially, and I think this is probably one of the most appealing qualities of the Net.

Desmond Salima, G7!! Report 2:Acquiring Cyberspace Citizenship

Ms Desmond's report is a log or journal of her experiences and feelings about becoming a cyber citizen. I thought that the instructions for the report were interesting because it allowed for students to incorporate their personal learning process with an assignment. Her entries were very brief and she expressed several times that she had difficulties with time constraints. It was like reading someone's diary (sort of) and it had more of a human quality then most of the reports I had seen so far. She did not hold back on her true feelings about her own work or the work of others. The frustration and confusion she expressed were feelings I went through and the extension on the deadlines for the assignments did wonders for my stress levels too! She writes about reading other reports in her generation: "By looking at what they did helped me learn more about things I could do on my own homepage. Also, it made me realize that I am not the only person going through "net-shock". Or more specifically, feeling overwhelmed by the amount of work needed to become a cyber-citizen." I also found it useful and comforting that I could browse through other reports and share feelings about the class in the online discussion group--I was not alone either!

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Reports from My Generation (10)

Susan Ganahl

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Conclusion

 
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