Introduction to virtual communities

August 2013

Miia Kosonen, PhD (Econ. & Bus. Adm.), researcher, lecturermiia.kosonen@lut.fi

Virtual community concepts

Technology-mediated community

Virtual arena

Online community

Electronic community

Virtual society

Network community

Electronic network

Virtual network

e-tribe Virtual public

Online crowd

Internet community

Virtual community

Virtual organizations

F2F or physical communities

Platforms: web 2.0, social media, online networking tools

Defining a virtual community

People

Shared interest

Interactions - creating and maintaining community-level social capital; norms, trust, shared language

Conversational technologies

Preece, 2000; Ridings et al., 2002; Porter, 2004; Kosonen, 2008

Belonging to a virtual community

Expectations ActivitiesSense of community

- Feelings of membership

- Identification with the group

- Feelings of efficacy

- Immersion

- Getting info or emotional support

- Building relationships

Does the community fulfill my needs? If so, how?

Uses & Gratifications: types of expected benefits

What does the community do? How do members interact? What is my role in these activities?

Katz et al., 1974; Nambisan & Baron, 2007, Blanchard, 2007, 2008; Tonteri et al., 2011

Perspectives into virtual communities

Virtual community

Economics

Management Sociology

Information systems

Cognitive psychology

Social psychology

Communication

- Rational choice theories - Collective action - Participation strategies

- Individual learning processes- Motivation: intrinsic, extrinsic- Member personality- Behavioral intentions

- Community design - Usability

- Attachment, commitment- Identity, identification- We-intentions, group processes- Sense of virtual community, SOVC- TPB, MGB

- Social capital, trust, norms- Digital sub-cultures- Effect on societies

- Communication richness- Media types, online channels- De-individuation- Hyperpersonal communication

- Macro: organizational design, new business models- Meso: innovation management, relationship marketing - Micro: community management

What is your perspective?

…no matter from which discipline or business you represent, try to avoid these three common pitfalls:

Overstating the newness of online social life – for decades, there have been virtual communities and community enthusiasts. Why not learn from their experiences?

Focusing on online technology and forgetting people – communities are about people.

Trying to include everything into one investigation – communities remain complex systems.