This study investigates the determinants and effects of virtual communities on the development of social relationships within the social network of cancer patients. Influencing factors on the formation of virtual relationships and their effect in the form of social assistance are researched. Following an explorative approach it is examined whether online communities meet their theoretical poten...

In terms of technological change and participatory media, the phenomenon of taking and sharing videos of live music events offers an insightful case study for discussing the individual production of online content and interpersonal interactions on social media sites. We use interviews with YouTube users who post videos of live music events to investigate motivations for the capture of personal ...

The paper studies social workers’ online communities of practice and presents the perceptions of their members about such online communities’ potential for establishing relationships and trust. The interviewees expressed three main clusters of reasons for why relationships and trust cannot be properly established and sustained through online communities of practice. These reasons involve genera...

The financial success of online communities based on multiplayer game environments has been a bright spot among the many failures in electronic commerce initiatives. While this form of business has existed for less than a decade, it is growing rapidly and has become a mainstream form of entertainment in some areas of the world, such as Korea. Game environments are becoming more immersive and co...

While the question how community design influences user behaviors in online communities has recently attracted considerable research, few studies empirically evaluate the influencing factors of specific user behaviors. Building on Ren et al.’s (2007) conceptual framework of identity-based vs. bond-based attachment in online communities, this study evaluates the influence of numerous antecedents...

The Internet was introduced in Saudi Arabia1 in late January 1999 after a long period of discussion and consultation within the Saudi authorities. These resulted in a tailored version being made available to the Saudi public. To enable this, a huge filter system was set up in Riyadh in conjunction with an American company. The reason for having such a filter system was that the Saudi authoritie...

This research aims to provide an understanding of knowledge sharing behavior through the adaptation of two major theories imported from Social Psychology: the Theory of Reasoned Action (TRA) and the Theory of Planned Behavior (TpB). Exploring knowledge sharing from a social psychological perspective provides an understanding of the process an individual goes through to make the decision to shar...

Both authors of this paper have been engaged in the community networking movement and its evolution for many years in an ongoing effort to help create online systems that meet human needs. Among other things, community networks are intended to help address shared "public affairs" in geographical areas. Although this goal is important and laudable, community networking communities are often unab...

In this paper we examine the possibility of evaluating the value of an online community in a company by focusing on the practices around the online community, which we call active lurking. We divided the practices into two types: independent practices that are completed within only an informal context, and connecting practices that have relationships with the formal organizational structure. We...