[Air-l] Re: Community versus Company

[John Daly]

This discussion has been informative. I am interested in groups of
people interacting over the Internet the way we are interacting via this
listserve. So let me ask some questions about terminology.

Are we who are subscribed to the AoIR listserve a "community".? If so,
what are characteristics that allow us to be so categorized? If, as I
suspect, we would be better described be a term other than "community",
what collective noun would you suggest?

Does the fact that there is an "Association of Internet Researchers"
make a difference"? What would be the correct collective noun for a
similar group subscribed to a listserve if subscribers did not link also
through a formal organization?

Communities seem to involve institutionalized relationships and
practices among community members. What, if any are the key
institutional relationships and practices involved in our group (other
than the formalized ones of the AoIR)?

Finally, what are the institutional factors that make participation in
this listserve more (or less) valuable to our professional work?

--
John Daly