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Online Communities
An online community is a group of people with a common interest, issue, or situation who gather through computer-mediated communication for a number of purposes, including to share information, to socialize, to provide emotional support, to educate and to learn, to advocate, and to organize. Online communities, also referred to as virtual communities, can be found on social networking sites, online discussion boards, e-mail groups or list serves, wikis, blogs, and other online forums.
Unlike a community in the physical world, an online community is not constrained by geography, time, or space, but is based instead on relationships among the community members and how those members communicate with each other. An important parameter for measuring community is the extent the gathering of people is perceived and functions as a community. Online communities are similar to physical communities in being shaped by social norms, rules and rituals, and other aspects of community culture. The distinctions and differences that have developed in online communities have resulted in extensive communication research, which primarily explores how computer-mediated communication alters the experience and influences of community on individual members, the community as a whole, and society.
This entry offers an overview of how online communities form. This entry also explores some of the benefits and detriments of online communities, how online contexts foster sense of community, and how social capital is acquired in such communities. This entry also examines the theories and methods most often used to research and analyze online communities.
Formation of Online Communities
Online communities are fluid in terms of the purpose and means with which they form from gatherings of people online; the extent they are active, engaging, and productive as communities; and the length of time they exist before disbanding. The fluidity of online communities allows them to form along many paths and to serve many purposes. At a basic level, formation can be categorized along one of three paths: a community initially formed in the physical world that communicates online, a community formed online that transitions to in-person relationships, or an online community that forms and communicates only online.
The formation of in-person communities that move to online communities often rely on traditional social and institutional structures that foster in-person connections and facilitate online communication. These structures include organizations that bring people together for work and other professional reasons, and for social, religious, political, or educational purposes. Through in-person meetings associated with an organization, people form communities and then extend their connections by communicating online, through the use of e-mail, cloud-based exchanges, or other online forums. On social media platforms, online communities are often formed by individuals with traditional in-person ties to family and friends who establish their social networks online.
Among the benefits associated with in-person communities moving online are increased opportunities for members of the community to share news and information, to provide emotional support, and to strengthen relationships outside the constraints of geography, time, and space. Negatives include tendencies for individuals to exaggerate their behavior in ways they would not do in person, such as excessive bragging or supercilious communications to improve their social standing with the online community, and the use of communications to bully or ostracize other members in order to exert power and control within the community.
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- Creating and Conducting Research
- Creation of Research Project
- Authoring: Telling a Research Story
- Body Image and Eating Disorders
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