Online Communities: Commerce, Community Action, and the Virtual University

by Werry, Chris; Mowbray, Miranda

• ISBN13: 9780130323828
• ISBN10: 0130323829
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2000-12-01
• Publisher: Prentice Hall PTR

Summary

Whether you're a marketer, open source developer, political activist, or academic, chances are you depend on robust online communities. Online Communities brings together leading experts on online communities of every kind, commercial and non-commercial, sharing their experience and research on key issues.

Table of Contents

Preface	xvii
Contributors	xxiii
Trademarks	xxv
Part 1 Commercial Online Communities	1	(126)
Imagined Electronic Community: Representations of Online Community in Business	3	(30)
Chris Werry
Early Business Texts and ``The Community That Isn't''	4	(5)
Community As Interactive Marketing	9	(3)
Online Community and the Future of Internet Commerce	12	(8)
A Critique of Contemporary Internet Business Models	20	(5)
Online Community and the University	25	(4)
Acknowledgments	29	(1)
References	29	(4)
The Case Studies	33	(14)
Janelle Brown
GeoCities	35	(4)
SmartGirl Internette	39	(3)
Electric Minds	42	(5)
Cookies, Gift-Giving, and Online Communities	47	(24)
Hillary Bays
Miranda Mowbray
Introduction: How This Research Came to Be	47	(2)
The Gift Economy in Online Communities	49	(1)
Cookie Exchange	49	(1)
Online Recipe Collections	50	(1)
Cookies As Food	50	(1)
Symbolic Sustenance and Virtual Cookies	51	(2)
Cookies As Discrete Units (Stereotypical/Mythological Image)	52	(1)
Cookies in Early Internet Terminology	53	(4)
Web Cookies	53	(1)
Magic Cookies	54	(1)
Fortune Cookies	54	(1)
GNU emacs	55	(1)
The Cookie Virus	55	(1)
The Childlike Spirit in Cookie Terminology	56	(1)
Cookies Are Meant to Be Shared	57	(4)
Clifford Stoll's Cookies	57	(1)
Kindergarten	58	(1)
In-Group Politeness	59	(1)
The Hau of Coolies	60	(1)
Women and Giving	61	(3)
Cookies and Mom	62	(1)
Archetype of a Cookie Baker	62	(2)
Learning from an Urban Legend	64	(1)
The Expensive Cookies Recipe	64	(1)
Conclusions and Business Implications	65	(2)
Implication for Online Community Business Strategies	65	(2)
Conclusion	67	(1)
Acknowledgments	67	(1)
References	67	(4)
Computer Networks Linking Network Communities	71	(26)
Robin B. Hamman
Ambiguity in the Definition of ``Community''	72	(2)
``Community''	74	(3)
Changing Demographics of Computer Network Users	77	(1)
Existing Research on the Social Impact of Computer-Mediated Communication	78	(2)
Existing Research on the Negative Social Impact of Computer-Mediated Communication	80	(6)
Changing Notions of Community	86	(3)
The Findings	89	(2)
Conclusion	91	(1)
Acknowledgments	92	(1)
References	92	(5)
Reducing Demographic Bias	97	(30)
Miranda Mowbray
Introduction	97	(2)
Case Study	99	(22)
Data Collection	99	(3)
Participation of Community Members	102	(1)
Demographic Profiles for D, B, and N	103	(2)
Presenting Gender versus Real Gender	105	(2)
Frequency and Longevity of Presence in the Moo	107	(3)
Creative Powers	110	(1)
Object Creation	111	(3)
Two Examples	114	(2)
Action Creation	116	(1)
Blaster Use	116	(1)
Common Features of Nontraditional Groups	117	(1)
Qualitative Description of Group Behavior	118	(3)
Examples of Internet Bias	121	(2)
Conclusion: Suggestions for Reducing Demographic Bias in Online Communities	123	(1)
Suggestions from the Case Study	123	(1)
Suggestions from the Examples of Internet Bias	123	(1)
Acknowledgements	124	(1)
References	124	(3)
Part 2 Educational Online Communities	127	(152)
Education, Communication, and Consumption: Piping in the Academic Community	129	(24)
Norman Clark
Laying the Pipe: The Rise of Campus Portals	130	(9)
Campus Portals to the Rescue?	132	(1)
Campus Pipeline at ASU	133	(6)
Deconstructing the Pipe: Critical Analysis	139	(8)
Education	139	(2)
Communication	141	(1)
Community	142	(3)
Consumption	145	(2)
Draining the Pipe: Conclusions	147	(2)
References	149	(4)
Building a Virtual University: Working Realities from the Virginia Tech Cyberschool	153	(22)
Timothy W. Luke
Basic Foundations	153	(8)
The Cyberschool Idea	155	(3)
Pushing Cyberschool Up to the University Level	158	(2)
Virginia Tech's IDDL	160	(1)
Building Online Communities for Education	161	(6)
Conclusions	167	(6)
References	173	(2)
Outsourcing Education, Managing Knowledge, and Strengthening Academic Communities	175	(20)
Joanne Addison
A Brief Account of U.S. Distance Education	183	(3)
No HTML Required! (Or, a Prediction Falls Flat)	186	(2)
Academic Communities and the Future of Distance Education	188	(3)
References	191	(4)
Respecting the Virtual Subject, or How to Navigate the Private/Public Continuum	195	(20)
Maria Bakardjieva
Andrew Feenberg
The Private/Public Spectrum	198	(5)
How Private Is the Group?	203	(2)
Privacy or Nonalienation?	205	(3)
When Is Alienation Justified?	208	(3)
Nonalienation As a Norm	211	(2)
References	213	(2)
Community, Courseware, and Intellectual Property Law	215	(26)
Geoffrey Sauer
Changes in the Duration of Copyright in the United States	216	(2)
The 1976 Copyright Act	218	(4)
The Thor Power Tool Case, 1979	222	(2)
Imbalance of Powers: Corporate, Government, and Consumer	224	(2)
Alienated Labor---Even within the Star System	226	(1)
Commercial Publishing Influence in Web Courseware	227	(4)
Student Dissatisfaction with Traditional Teaching	230	(1)
Courseware Advantages	231	(1)
Alternatives: The English Server	231	(6)
Protection within Disciplines	232	(1)
Independent Course Materials	233	(4)
Conclusion: Public Intellectualism	237	(1)
References	238	(3)
The Red Escolar Project Considered As an Online Community	241	(16)
Walter Aprile
Teresa Vazquez Mantecon
A Brief Description of Red Escolar	241	(3)
Integration with Face-to-Face Education	242	(1)
Collaboration Projects	243	(1)
Learning Circles	244	(1)
The Digital Library	244	(1)
Teacher Training	244	(1)
Means of Interaction within Red Escolar	244	(4)
Email	245	(1)
Forums	245	(1)
Mailing Lists	246	(1)
Chat	247	(1)
Magazine, Phones Calls, Visits	247	(1)
Joining Red Escolar	248	(1)
Requisites	248	(1)
Getting In	248	(1)
The Red Escolar Community Environment	249	(5)
What Is a Red Escolar User?	249	(1)
Authority	250	(2)
The User's Point of View	252	(1)
The Administrator's Point of View	253	(1)
Designing for Growth	253	(1)
Linux on the School Server	254	(1)
Lessons Learned	254	(3)
The Free Universal Encyclopedia and Learning Resource	257	(14)
Richard Stallman
An Encyclopedia Located Everywhere	258	(1)
Who Will Write the Encyclopedia?	258	(1)
Small Steps Will Do the Job	258	(1)
Take the Long View	259	(1)
Evangelize	259	(1)
What Should the Free Encyclopedia Contain?	260	(1)
Criteria Pages Must Meet	261	(1)
Permit Universal Access	261	(1)
Permit Mirror Sites	262	(1)
Permit Translation into Other Languages	262	(1)
Permit Quotation with Attribution	263	(1)
Permit Modified Versions of Courses	264	(1)
Permit Modified Versions of Pictures and Videos, for Courses	264	(1)
Only Free Software in the Encyclopedia	265	(1)
No Central Control	265	(1)
Encourage Peer Review and Endorsements	266	(1)
No Catalogue, Yet	266	(1)
Making Links to Other Pages	267	(1)
Uphold the Freedom to Contribute	268	(1)
Spread the World	269	(2)
Part 2 Afterword: Blood and Dreams in Cyberspace	271	(8)
Cary Nelson
Part 3 Alternative Online Communities	279	(126)
What Kind of Platform for Change? Democracy, Community Work, and the Internet	281	(18)
Douglas Schuler
Elements of Democracy	283	(3)
Democracy and the Internet	285	(1)
Democratic Communication Technology in Seattle	286	(7)
Community Networks	292	(1)
Roles of Governments and Community	293	(1)
Actions for the Future	294	(2)
References	296	(3)
Oxfam GB Interviews: Experience and Thoughts and Online Communities	299	(18)
Julia Flynn
Building Blocks for Bringing About a True Exchange of Ideas between North/South Communities	300	(7)
The CHOGM Meeting Web Site	300	(2)
What We Learned	302	(2)
On the Line	304	(2)
A Good Way to Create a Community	306	(1)
Learning from One Office and Applying It to Other Situations	307	(10)
The Managua Office	307	(2)
Experiences in Other Offices	309	(1)
Some Issues: Language and Content	310	(1)
A Cultural Shift	310	(2)
The Managua Web Site: A Key Resource	312	(2)
Some Advice for NGOs	314	(3)
The Rise and Persistence of the Technological Community Ideal	317	(48)
Randy Connolly
Previous Technologies Enthusiasms	319	(15)
Canals	319	(1)
The Railway	320	(2)
The Telegraph	322	(4)
The Telephone	326	(3)
The Automobile	329	(2)
The Radio	331	(3)
Why These Hopes?	334	(1)
Jeffersonian Republicanism	335	(12)
Conclusion	347	(8)
References	355	(10)
Online Community Action: Perils and Possibilities	365	(40)
Luciano Paccagnella
What Are We Talking About?	367	(3)
The Problematic Community	370	(5)
Networks of People	375	(5)
To Change the World, Begin with Yourself	380	(5)
The New Riches: Information or Codes?	385	(5)
Hacking the System	390	(4)
The Perils and Possibilities of Online Community Action	394	(4)
References	398	(7)
Index	405