Transcript slides - Courses

Computer-Mediated
Communication
Online Communities
Coye Cheshire & Andrew Fiore
// April 1, 2016
Virtual communities are social
aggregations that emerge from the
Net when enough people carry on
those public discussions long
enough, with sufficient human
feeling, to form webs of personal
relationships in cyberspace.
Howard Rheingold, The Virtual Community
4/1/2016
Computer-Mediated Communication — Cheshire & Fiore
1
What is an online community?
Social Spaces
Role-playing
Professional Groups
Work-related
discussion groups
Medical and Illness support groups
Geographically related groups
Tech/Software Support
4/1/2016
Computer-Mediated Communication — Cheshire & Fiore
2
Role of the Participant
Publisher, reader, content creator,
commentator, advertiser, editor…
Who makes sense of all of this?
Researcher (sociology, anthropology, economics, etc)
Developer (CS, engineering, etc)
4/1/2016
Computer-Mediated Communication — Cheshire & Fiore
3
Changing our lives?
Rheingold (1995)
Political change
(aggregate social level)
Macro
Person-to-person interaction
(interpersonal interaction level)
Perception, thoughts, personalities
(individual level)
4/1/2016
Micro
Computer-Mediated Communication — Cheshire & Fiore
4
Web 2.37 is here NOW
Vs.
4/1/2016
Computer-Mediated Communication — Cheshire & Fiore
5
Early Online Communities
Rheingold– Virtual Community (1993)
(Whole Earth ‘lectronic Link)
 At this time, geography still played an important role
because of BBS’s (local telephone access)
 Less use of pseudonyms (identity persistence)
 Less initial distrust
4/1/2016
Computer-Mediated Communication — Cheshire & Fiore
6
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
Explore the history of all messages on Usenet…
http://netscan.research.microsoft.com/
4/1/2016
Computer-Mediated Communication — Cheshire & Fiore
7
http://www.ischool.berkeley.edu/~atf/images/treemap_all.gif
4/1/2016
Computer-Mediated Communication — Cheshire & Fiore
8
Qualities of 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
4/1/2016
Computer-Mediated Communication — Cheshire & Fiore
9
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
4/1/2016
Computer-Mediated Communication — Cheshire & Fiore
10
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
4/1/2016
Computer-Mediated Communication — Cheshire & Fiore
11
Selected Social Issues in
Online Communities
4/1/2016
Computer-Mediated Communication — Cheshire & Fiore
12
Facebook Information Fiasco
“A lot of people, it's true, are getting hysterical because they feel their privacy
was violated. It wasn't. They just think it was, because they don't realize that
the news feed is just a condensed version of what they're already putting out
there on the internet in the first place. Anyone that nnated (sic) to know that
information could get it, and while this does make it easier, it's no more
obvious.” (“Tom”, online comment)
“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)
http://chimprawk.blogspot.com/2006/09/facebook-generations-identityarchive.html
4/1/2016
Computer-Mediated Communication — Cheshire & Fiore
13