Computer-Mediated
Communication
Online Communities
Coye Cheshire
// April 9, 2015
Some key terms from Cohen
 Symbol:
the means to make meaning
 Subjectivity:
to each her own interpretation
 Community:
inclusion, exclusion, and … ???
 Simplexity and multiplexity:
like weak and strong ties
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Community Boundaries Revisited:
Ye old Facebook Fiasco of ‘06
“The point is, you're always presenting the
identity you want to present - you never have to
worry about the identity you used to present …
This morning, millions of students were shown
that they can't actually rewrite history. Everything
they do, all of the groups they join and interests
they state or friends they make - it is all being
recorded.”
(Fred Stutzman)
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So what makes a community?
Common practices?
Network ties?
Symbols?
Poster to post ratio?
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Affect-laden
relationships?
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The Beginnings of Online Community…
Or, “Why Usenet ???”
The first large-scale online communities were Usenet
discussion groups and forums
- Developed around 1979
- No official structure
Red Letter Dates!
http://www.google.com/googlegroups/archive_announce_20.html
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http://www.ischool.berkeley.edu/~atf/images/treemap_all.gif
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One View on Virtual Communities…
Jones (1997) Four Qualities that characterize virtual
communities:
A minimum level of interactivity
A variety of communicators
Common public space
A minimum level of sustained membership
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And Another view…
(Chromatic, from O’reilly Network)
http://www.oreillynet.com/pub/a/network/2002/10/21/community.html
Exist for a reason
Users draw other users
Users will surprise you
A sense of ownership
A shared history and culture
Role of Mischief
Barriers are mixed blessings
Discuss the Community Openly
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Social Networks and Online
Community
“Community emerges where the
cumulative impact of interactions
among individuals adds value
above the level of pairwise
interactions”
- Caroline Haythornthwaite
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The network perspective
People
(nodes)
Ties
(edges)
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Ties in a social network
 Directed or undirected
 Simplex or multiplex
 Valued or unvalued
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Network Approach to Community
 Examines interconnections to discover where
groups exist rather than determining a priori that
a group exists based on external criteria.
 But is this a community? Or “an alliance, a
collaborative work group, a collective, a cohort”?
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The power of social capital
1+1=2
1 + 1 > 2?
2 + 2 > 4?
Fully connected network:
N people, N(N-1)/2 ties
Connections grow
at a much faster rate
(quadratic vs. linear)
Bridge
6 + 6 > 12?
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Other Community Types
 Communities of
Practice
 Link-Based
Communities
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Community lost
Community saved
Community liberated
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The Nature and Function of
Online Groups
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Different goals, same
behavior, different
outcomes.
Different motivational
processes, same
consequences.
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Other Points
(inspired from your reviews)
Role of “misunderstandings”
and sense-making in groups
with limited information
“Why?”
(Kimra McPherson 2010)
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Shyness
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Aggressiveness
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Types of online groups (McKenna)
 Organizational groups
 Social groups
 Common bond
 Common identity
 Stigmatized-population groups
 Support groups
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Group Dynamics
Leadership
Status Power
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Online communities are neither built nor do
they just emerge, they evolve organically and
change over time. Developers cannot control
online community development but they can
influence it.
Jenny Preece
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A few more Final Project Examples…
A Design Annotation Tool
Design Considerations for
Collaborative Visual Analytics
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