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A collection of individuals or users of a
website, Mailing list or newsgroup generally united through a
common interest. Community-building is one of the biggest challenges faced
by website owners, for whom unclicked banners, empty chat
rooms and discussion groups, or unclaimed web space presage doom. The rules
for encouraging the development and retention of such communities are not
clearly defined, and many theories circulate about how best to attempt this.
Howard Rheingold's book Virtual Communities, available online,
provides one of the best such discussions.
Broadly speaking, there
are two types of online communities. Websites such as Geocities and Tripod
have built successful businesses by renting web space to anyone who wants
it, organising people or businesses into neighbourhoods and creating a sense
of place in an otherwise flat and sterile environment. More specifically,
stand-alone commercial or special-interest sites use chat technology,
moderated e-mail discussions, user forums and relationship with other sites
to build audiences and encourage participation. Newsgroups, too, constitute
communities in their own right, albeit ones whose discussions are
unmoderated and whose members are less predictable in their movements and
habits. Many of the principles behind successful community-building have
their roots in organisations such as the well, one of the first
online communities. |
