Informal Communication in an Online Volunteer Community: Implications for Supporting Virtual Relationships

This paper considers the ways in which proximity benefits informal communication and relationship development and how technologies can create virtual proximity. We present an “encounters” framework for understanding how proximity shapes opportunities for interpersonal communication and relationship development and then examine how dimensions of encounters influence informal communication in an online chatroom-based volunteer community. The results suggest that many of the dimensions of encounters we propose influenced informal communication and relationship development among members of the community. The results further suggest that the ability to experience sounds and images simultaneously, through shared web pages, files, and other devices, was important for relationship-building. We conclude with a discussion of areas for future research, including enhancing the encounters framework, understanding how affordances of media shape interpersonal encounters, extending the work to other online communities, and the development of new research paradigms.