developing online communities

i am interested in this topic for uni and wondered what ppl thought. extract:

"Most users of the Internet are a member of one or more online communities. For instance students using Moodle are a member of a large community of Moodle users, where Moodle is an environment offering a selection of activities available for those eligible. Another example would be www.blogger.com where a community of users keep a log of their activities and other members can discuss them.

One particular type of community, which could be defined as a encyclopedia developed by its users, is a wiki. The best known is www.wikipedia.com.

Its interesting how these information style communities developed and how they are maintained. A few opening questions that spring to mind:

* what other information style communities are there and what characterises them?
* how do communities develop?
* how can a new community be established?
* how can accuracy of the information in a community be assured?"

I.Tz No Problem
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Great topic!

* what other information style communities are there and what characterises them?

The primary information style community is a hobby-based forum with a certain dedicated topic. For example, this forum is for people interested in F1. There are countless forums dedicated to pretty much any sport you can think of, and almost any interest you can think of: stamp collecting, fishing, fitness, etc.

One of the oldest means of communication online is the newsgroup (usenet) from years and years ago. Newsgroups are still going strong and are a fantastic source of information.


* how do communities develop?

The best forums tend to be associated with popular sites. For example, people come to this forum looking for GP4 addons, and they find the forum and occasionally run away screaming. Stand-alone forums never seem to be quite as popular unless they are the only source of knowledge available (check out howardforums.com for ANYTHING phone related, as an example). Pitpass.com has a thriving forum community simply because it's an extension of the site and almost acts as a rumours section of the website, as well as a discussion. People enjoy discussing their interests because it gives them a great chance to (primarily) show off their knowledge and assert themselves over others.

* how can a new community be established?

See above: tying a "community" to a major "thing". For example, Google Earth has a really really great BBS because the users are all posting little placemarks from around the world, and helping each other out. HL2 has a major forum because there are so many people looking for help, advice, or just wanting to talk about the game. If the biggest sport in the world became chess tomorrow, I'd start up a chess news site and have a forum.

* how can accuracy of the information in a community be assured?"

Because there's no quality filter on the internet, you have to rely entirely reliable sources for information, such as major news sites (e.g. BBC, Reuters, AP, etc). Accuracy of ANY information on the internet is very hard to be assured of unless backed up with a link to the something very close to what the event is about. If someone posted a thread here with Alain Prost coming back to F1 racing, this person would be laughed at unless there was a good story reported over at the major news sites for F1.

The only way to have accurate information online is to show sources, as with most things.

nice thoughts zcott thanks. for me what characterises an information style community is the ability of ppl to help each other. and there are certain pl you goto if you ahve a certain prob. like computer related you may goto tux, gav, qwerty or zcott. another topic may be the speciality of someone else, like gui on brazilian football. so in effect you have a community of specialists and the info is free.

the question of accuracy i think is a very interesting one. it is i supose sursprising how much stuff on the internet we take for granted.

I.Tz No Problem
For all your home and business I.T needs
[www.itznoproblem.com]
enquiry@itznoproblem.com

In a way, the online communities mirror their real-life counterparts. Every communities has a leader (i.e. the owner), and beneath that, several people employed to "keep the peace" (i.e. mods).

Then there are the people who you find in every community - the people who will fix stuff, the people who will help out other people, the people who are downright rude and ignorant, the new members, and the old people who dislike the young people, as a brief example.

Every online comunity I came across seems to have at least one strong character other members look up to in awe. Most of the time this character is called Vader.

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REHAB IS FOR QUITTERS

I guess this is the exception that proves the rule, right?

Okay, I don't blame you, Zcott. I blame Red Sam for the above.

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REHAB IS FOR QUITTERS

Vader, Im not hot on the Latin... does your sig say "Always in excrement, the solely profound variable" ?

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Yes you are not hot on Latin

Actually i haven't the foggiest. Vader could well be saying that, although i don't have a great reason as to why he should.

Locke Cole Wrote:
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> Vader, Im not hot on the Latin... does your sig
> say "Always in excrement, the solely profound
> variable" ?
>

Almost. It roughly translates into "I am always in sh*t, only the depth varies".

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REHAB IS FOR QUITTERS

what about content? im feeling a 56% nut fest turd on the cards


Jenson drives it like he owns it; Lewis drives it like he stole it