[Air-l] Online Community Research - 2 Items

[Dorine Andrews]

For those who have an interest in online community development you may wish
to peruse my dissertation which is now available in PDF format.  The title
is "Computer Supported Social Networks: Audience-centric Online Community
Implementation."  http://georgetown.edu/faculty/dca4/publications.html

Short Abstract:
    Commercial, non-profit, and grassroots organizations see potential
benefit is using online community as a mechanism for attracting audiences to
their Internet services, retaining the interest of existing customers, and
growing the value of their revenue potential (Hagel and Armstrong, 1997).
However, these audiences and customer groups are unlike early online
community members, which suggests that implementing online communities for
these people may be fraught with issues not encountered in the early years
of online community development. This research is a case study of the
development of an online community targeted at a specific audience. This
audience, North American mid-life career changers, is like many audiences.
They share specific common interests and needs, but lack existing
communities to support those interests and needs and have few expectations
about forming such mutually beneficial relationships online.
    From this case study research, a model for audience-centric online
community implementation is proposed. The model provides guidelines to
establish weak-tie, computer-mediated social networks for problem solving
and fact finding. The research provides insights into what must be known
about this audience to develop an appropriate online community to address
its common needs and motivate members to participate. It demonstrates how
audience needs and requirements may be translated into online community
technology, content, and functionality. It explores the economic structures
and financial issues that affect audience-centric online communities that
have membership growth and financial sustainability needs.

Another new publication of interest by one of my colleagues who is studies
the use of online communty in the health field appeared recently in the
Communications Journal. The PDF copy can be viewed at:
http://cct.georgetown.edu/docs/JOC.pdf.  It is very well done.

Happy labor day and good reading!
Dorine
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Dorine Andrews, DCD
Research Professor, www.georgetown.edu/faculty/dca4
Communication, Culture & Technology Program
Georgetown University
office (202) 784-4338  dca4 at georgetown.edu
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