Why online communities?
There are a variety of suggested reasons as to why people choose to join online communities. One of the earliest definitions of online communities described them as "social aggregations that emerge from the Net when enough people carry on those public discussions [using the Internet] long enough, with sufficient human feeling, to form webs of personal relationships in cyberspace" (Rheingold 1994, 5 cited in Flew 2004, 62).
Virtual communities have longevity, and can widely be used for functional reasons, such as knowledge and information sharing, promotion, research and business networking. Alternatively, many use online communities as they allow users to share emotional connections, giving them a sense of community (virtually), involvement, influence and acceptance.
Originally, interest in online communities was from social activist communities, setting up a network to inform and express opinions, and share these with others in an online networking environment (Flew 2004, 62-63). As technology has progressed, online communities have been formed by a variety of groups, whether it be to just keep in touch with friends or promote an upcoming product release. One common variable for online communities, however, is that they are created for people with a shared interest, thus creating a community. In regard to Education Queensland's A Learning Place Showcase site, David Potter from The Netride commented,
"The site is not the community. At the end of the day, it is up to the people in the community to build the community. The site should support community-building activities. It is a vehicle for people to travel to centrally located sources of information and to be able to add/edit/delete information whether it be text, images, video clips, panorama images or sound files. Communities are built by people for people with shared desired outcomes. The vehicles and tools aid in the processes of achieving the outcomes." (David Potter - The Netride).
Examples of online communities include:
There are a variety of suggested reasons as to why people choose to join online communities. One of the earliest definitions of online communities described them as "social aggregations that emerge from the Net when enough people carry on those public discussions [using the Internet] long enough, with sufficient human feeling, to form webs of personal relationships in cyberspace" (Rheingold 1994, 5 cited in Flew 2004, 62).
Virtual communities have longevity, and can widely be used for functional reasons, such as knowledge and information sharing, promotion, research and business networking. Alternatively, many use online communities as they allow users to share emotional connections, giving them a sense of community (virtually), involvement, influence and acceptance.
Originally, interest in online communities was from social activist communities, setting up a network to inform and express opinions, and share these with others in an online networking environment (Flew 2004, 62-63). As technology has progressed, online communities have been formed by a variety of groups, whether it be to just keep in touch with friends or promote an upcoming product release. One common variable for online communities, however, is that they are created for people with a shared interest, thus creating a community. In regard to Education Queensland's A Learning Place Showcase site, David Potter from The Netride commented,
"The site is not the community. At the end of the day, it is up to the people in the community to build the community. The site should support community-building activities. It is a vehicle for people to travel to centrally located sources of information and to be able to add/edit/delete information whether it be text, images, video clips, panorama images or sound files. Communities are built by people for people with shared desired outcomes. The vehicles and tools aid in the processes of achieving the outcomes." (David Potter - The Netride).
Examples of online communities include:
