Virtual communities – what about them? Pille Vengerfeldt University of Tartu, Estonia Marie Curie Fellow in DCU

Talk will be about... Theoretical background Different types of communities Characteristics for communities Life cycle of communities

Definition Community is a social formation that shares qualities and is perceived somewhat different from the larger society Communities as self-defining interactive communication networks, that are organized around specific interests or purposes.

Historically... Gemeinshaft – describing cosy realities where social relations are defined by locality, neighbourhood, shared responsibility and creating mutual well-being.

Imagined communities Mediated experience creates communities Mediated are: Shared histories of shared how-to understandings Shared landscapes of unity Identifiers: Not knowing every one in the community There are boundaries They are sovereignty and members expect to be free from outside interference In spite of hierarchies, there is feeling of camaraderie

Collective imagining Virtual communities and virtual space is a result of collective imagining. People who might not know each other and have never met, are dedicated to the same experience through defining a shared vision.

Creation of sustainability The ways how sustainability is created There are rules and horizons of possible activities. Topics that are defined are debatable, and open to critique and interference Generally accepted standards that improve the quality of the community

Urbanism In the situation of urbanism, communities... In the traditional sense disappear Become interest based Of closer personal relations disappear The social network of survival has disappeared / recreated in a different ways – family is replaced by friends

Virtual communities People with shared interests meet online. They are brought together by the chance of shared community feeling with others who share their world views. Have always been there And can be formed in a number of different technical environments News-groups, chat rooms, forums, lists etc.

Different types of virtual communities Transaction based Interest based Geographical Fantasy Relationships Professionals Online communities are always about and limited to communicating

Ways in which communities can be formed Institutional Someone creates environment where, and topic around what, the community is generated Personal Community to interact with friends Community to test your skills Community based on personal interests

Possible characteristics of a community Shared jokes We/they notion Acceptance of other members Hierarchy Shared norms and rules Specified roles Shared memory based on external attributes

Power in cyber communities Technical power Source of power is code – access or commands are the means Power of public opinion Source is respect

Life cycle of communities Birth of a community People invite other people, small group, strong authority by the creators Young community Enough people to still know each other, strong public opinion, a lot of public discussion, strong shared feeling of community From public to private circle Sub-communities emerge, public discussion loses its importance, too many people? Death of the community or creation of a new one

Story... “Consider the following goal: to create a clone of a powerful and complex computer operating system by asking programmers from around the world to donate their time and effort to the project. Operating system would be free for anyone who wanted it, regardless of whether they had contributed to the project or not” Linux: The “Impossible” Public Good, P. Kollock