This document discusses virtual communities from different perspectives. It defines a virtual community as having people, shared interests, interactions that build social capital through norms and trust, and use of conversational technologies. Belonging to a virtual community involves expectations of benefits and sense of community, as well as activities and interactions. The document outlines perspectives on virtual communities from various fields including economics, management, sociology, information systems, psychology, and communication. It cautions against overstating the newness of online social life, focusing only on technology and not people, and trying to include everything in one investigation. Virtual communities remain complex systems.

1. August 2013
Miia Kosonen, PhD (Econ. & Bus. Adm.), researcher, lecturer
miia.kosonen@lut.fi

2. Virtual community concepts
Technology-mediated community
Virtual arena
Online community
Electronic community
Virtual society
Network community
Electronic network Virtual network
e-tribe Virtual public Online crowd
Internet community
Virtual community
Virtual
organizations
F2F or physical
communities
Platforms: web 2.0, social media, online networking tools

3. Defining a virtual community
 People
 Shared interest
 Interactions - creating and maintaining community-
level social capital; norms, trust, shared language
 Conversational technologies
Preece, 2000; Ridings et al., 2002; Porter, 2004; Kosonen, 2008

4. Belonging to a virtual community
Expectations Activities
Sense of
community
- Feelings of membership
- Identification with the group
- Feelings of efficacy
- Immersion
- Getting info or emotional support
- Building relationships
Does the community
fulfill my needs? If
so, how?
Uses &
Gratifications: types
of expected benefits
What does the
community do? How
do members
interact? What is my
role in these
activities?
Katz et al., 1974; Nambisan & Baron, 2007, Blanchard, 2007, 2008; Tonteri et al., 2011

5. Perspectives into virtual communities
Virtual
community
Economics
Management Sociology
Information systems
Cognitive psychology
Social psychology
Communication
- Rational choice theories
- Collective action
- Participation strategies
- Individual learning processes
- Motivation: intrinsic, extrinsic
- Member personality
- Behavioral intentions
- Community design
- Usability
- Attachment, commitment
- Identity, identification
- We-intentions, group processes
- Sense of virtual community, SOVC
- TPB, MGB
- Social capital, trust, norms
- Digital sub-cultures
- Effect on societies
- Communication richness
- Media types, online channels
- De-individuation
- Hyperpersonal communication
- Macro: organizational design,
new business models
- Meso: innovation management,
relationship marketing
- Micro: community management

6. What is your perspective?
…no matter from which discipline or business you represent,
try to avoid these three common pitfalls:
 Overstating the newness of online social life – for decades,
there have been virtual communities and community
enthusiasts. Why not learn from their experiences?
 Focusing on online technology and forgetting people –
communities are about people.
 Trying to include everything into one investigation –
communities remain complex systems.