The Internet: global information superhighway for the future

The information revolution is bringing people of different backgrounds from around the world into a global information superhighway. The Internet provides a global platform connecting thousands of networks around the world. There is a variety of information available on the Internet for the users. It has been considered as a forum for users to share worldwide information resources. The resources are so vast that many of us really cannot grasp or understand the Internet fully. It has become a ‘global information library’ which allows the users to participate in the group discussion, search for any information, start any discussion with others and so on. It can be considered as a hybrid environment of postal services, citizen's band radio, libraries and neighborhood community centers where we (‘we’ is mainly used in this paper in its generic form) can spend time with our friends (‘our’ is also mainly used generically). Internet users (Internauts) share jokes, gossip in on-line conferences and join special groups to keep abreast of their specific interests. The main objective of this tutorial is to discuss various services on the Internet, their implementations, various Internet tools, and interconnection to the Internet. Other important issues like the Internet addressing, domain name system, IP addressing, etc. are discussed in detail in order to understand some design concepts. A brief list of the different types of browsers for different platforms is given. A discussion on future of the Internet is given via different advances and tools defined to provide security, interconnectivity and other related issues.     

India network-the first case study of a virtual community

In this paper, we describe the historical development of a virtual community of Asian Indians and how the Internet helped create such a network. The Indian Network is the oldest e-mail network serving the Asian Indian community around the world. Although it is physically located in the United States, it serves members in more than 75 countries, providing them with news, information and advice. A detailed discussion on problems and issues in establishing an Internet-based network is provided in the paper. In addition, the advantages of the Internet in building a virtual community of immigrant populations separated by thousands of miles physically, but just an e-mail away are outlined. This paper will be of use to those interested in developing community networks for other communities. It will also help experts in computer science and information technology develop software tools to meet the challenges in aiding development of virtual communities. Another important contribution of these specialized lists is our ability to reach the community for research purposes which otherwise would be impossible. The credit card usage study and membership survey results are discussed towards the end of the paper.     

Trust-based protocols for regulating online,friend-of-a-friend communities

An online community is a group whose members are connected by means of information technologies, typically the Internet rather than face to face. Online communities allow social and cultural barriers to be spanned for communication. Social communities rely on interpersonal trust to regulate cohesion in their communities. After a general discussion, we offer protocols that extend viability of friend-of-a-friend framework along with experimental results.     

Public Discourse, Community Concerns, and Civic Engagement: Exploring Black Social Networking Traditions on BlackPlanet.com

This study explores community life on a black social network site, BlackPlanet, to see whether and how participants engage in public discussions; if these discussions center on issues considered to be critical to the black community; and if so, the extent to which participants' online networks are used to foster some level of civic engagement. Participation analysis, content analysis, and a thematic analysis were used to analyze public discussions on the site's community forums. The findings show that participants are deeply committed to ongoing discussions about black community issues. However, none of these discussions moved beyond a discursive level of civic engagement, suggesting that the potential for mobilization through social networking online has not yet been realized, despite the traditional orientation to community service among blacks in America.     

The new neighbourhood in the internet era: network communities serving local communities

The past two decades have witnessed many attempts to transform online communities in new neighbourhoods of the Internet era. In particular, one of the most interesting applications of Internet Technologies in this field have been ‘network communities’, that differ from online communities because they refer to a specific territory and, for this reason, serve as a social catalyst for the corresponding territorial community. Network communities, as virtual neighbourhoods, have the purpose of allowing a better understanding of physical ones, contributing to the creation and the proliferation of services most suited to the needs of residents. For this reason, municipalities and local governments should consider the opportunity to exploit network communities as useful tools for local community management. Following this lead, this article analyses a real case study and highlights the existence of a positive correlation between a constructive utilisation of a network community by its members, their sense of community and the degree of their involvement in local problems.     

Understanding civic engagement behaviour on Facebook from a social capital theory perspective

This paper applies the social capital theory to construct a model for investigating the factors that influence online civic engagement behaviour on Facebook. While there is promising evidence that people are making concerted efforts to adopt Facebook to address social issues, research on their civic behaviour from a social capital viewpoint in the social media context remains limited. This study introduces new insights into how Facebook is shaping the landscape of civic engagement by examining three dimensions of social capital – social interaction ties (structural), trust (relational), and shared languages and vision (cognitive). The study contends that these dimensions will influence individuals’ online civic engagement behaviour on Facebook. We also argue that social interaction ties can engender trust, and shared languages and vision among its members, and that shared languages and vision can increase trust among Facebook members. Empirical data collected from 1233 Facebook users provide support for the proposed model. The results help in identifying the motivation underlying the online civic engagement behaviour of individuals in a public virtual community. The implications for theory and practice and future research directions are discussed.     

A study of social participation and knowledge sharing in the teachers' online professional community of practice

To facilitate professional development of teachers in the online context, the online community of practice (CoPs) has become an important platform in which individuals with similar interests or common goals get together to share their resources, develop working strategies, solve problems, and improve individual as well as organizational performance. In this study, we have collected self-reported knowledge-sharing behaviors from 321 members of the largest online professional CoP of teachers in Taiwan. The results show that closer connections among online CoP members can lead to greater recognition of and altruism towards others. Moreover, performance expectation and self-efficacy belief play essential roles in knowledge-sharing participation. Thus, the development of social relationships among online teacher members helps them obtain potential resources and reliable support through their social network. Also, teachers' membership in the online professional CoP fosters a prosocial attitude that heightens their willingness to share useful resources and solve other members' problems, both emotionally and instrumentally. Consequently, knowledge-sharing behaviors, in terms of knowledge giving and knowing receiving, are significantly predicted by prosocial commitment and performance expectation respectively. The implications to both research and practice are provided in this paper.     

Crisis Communications Management on the Web: How Internet‐Based Technologies are Changing the Way Public Relations Professionals Handle Business Crises

This article analyses how Internet‐based technologies can help companies to: monitor their business environment online in search of potentially conflictive issues that need to be managed (issues management); to prepare a crisis communications plan that considers the Internet side of today's business landscape (crisis communications planning); to respond adequately to crises should they arise by using all available online tools (crisis response); and to establish appropriate Internet‐based actions once the crisis dies down (post‐crisis). The article also questions whether the traditional one‐way corporate approach and tone is still suitable in the new, more participative, online business environment, or whether companies should use a different tone, language, and attitude when engaging with their audiences on the Internet in a crisis situation.     

Involving users in the wild—Participatory product development in and with online communities

In its traditional stance, participatory design (PD) is centred on certain work/application settings and is concerned with the involvement of representative users from these contexts. Nevertheless, current web technologies enable new forms of distributed participation which might allow PD processes to be implemented in a broader and flexible way, but may at the same time raise new issues in relation to participation. In this paper, we report on a Participatory Product Development project, using social technologies, where new issues were raised—a large population of heterogeneous and globally distributed users; a range of personal and institutional purposes, and the use of these technologies in a largely untested environment. We will reflect on insights that we gathered by through observation of and participation in a software development process driven and influenced by members of an existing online community. By means of participatory observation, analysis of the use of online tools and through semi- structured interviews we identified issues around different notions of timeliness and of process structures that are related to different roles, responsibilities and levels of experience. Our results indicate that the involvement of heterogeneous users in such a context needs to be handled carefully, for the reasons we set out. The role of user representatives acting for a broader online community can become crucial when managing heterogeneity, formulating acceptable compromises and- perhaps most crucially- dealing with different professional and ‘hobbyist’ worldviews. Additionally, we found that the use of standard web technologies only partly support online participation processes. PD ‘in the wild’ needs to be better embedded in use situations and environments (e.g., by linking discussion and design space, using feedback tools, continuous reflection of the current state of development) rather than refining participatory design as a meta-process separate from use.     

Who are interested in online science simulations? Tracking a trend of digital divide in Internet use

Although the Internet has become a major source for disseminating educational resources for science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM), little is known about the extent to which these resources are being used, their relationship to academic performance, and the type of users accessing these resources online. This study used two innovative tools, Google Trends and Web analytics, to explore interest in and usage of the PhET website, one of the most well-known online science simulation resources. This study found that search interest in the PhET science simulations has been growing continuously since 2005. However, search interest in PhET was positively correlated with academic performance and income, and negatively correlated with the achievement gap between high- and low-performing students. Moreover, Internet users in states with more White students were more interested in the PhET science simulations. Yet Internet users in states with more Black students were less interested in these science simulations. These findings suggest that the way online STEM resources are being used is likely to widen, rather than narrow, the achievement gap. This is the first study to utilize Internet search trend data and Web analytics tools for monitoring Internet use for educational purposes.     

Virtual communities: A marketing perspective

Increasingly, consumers interact through the Internet to share their knowledge, experiences, and opinions. Consequently, ‘word-of-mouse’ has become a significant market force that influences consumer decision-making. On the basis of extensive quantitative and qualitative research, the authors sketch how consumers make use of virtual communities as social and information networks, and how this affects their decision-making processes. We present three studies that address (i) determinants and effects of virtual community influence on the consumer decision process; (ii) virtual community participation patterns; and (iii) discussion practices of the most active community members. Key implications for managers, marketers, and market researchers are discussed.     

“模式识别”课程虚拟教学平台的研究与实现

针对目前研究生"模式识别"课程教学中所呈现的问题,并结合课程自身的特点,分析了构建"模式识别"虚拟教学平台应解决的主要问题,借助计算机技术和网络技术进行平台的构建。此平台主要由课程介绍、成员管理、在线学习、项目开发、在线测试和在线交流等功能模块构成。该虚拟教学平台极大地扩展了教学空间,丰富了教学方法,提高了教学效率,为师生提供了一个便捷、有效的网上教学环境。     

Contribution of Internet news use to reducing the influence of selective online exposure on political diversity

Research has recognized both selective and heterogeneous exposures on the Internet through online news and discussion. How online exposures through Internet news and discussion influence political diversity in individuals’ everyday lives needs to be addressed. The current research examines the extent to which Internet news use alters the effect of selective online interaction on political diversity in individuals’ social networks. Results show that while Internet news use has no direct relationship with political diversity in individuals’ social networks, it nevertheless moderates the negative effect of selective online interaction and indirectly contributes to political diversity. The social structural aspect of political diversity in social networks is discussed in comparison to political discussion networks.     

Inspiring and Informing Citizens Online: A Media Richness Analysis of Varied Civic Education Modalities

Public deliberation on the Internet is a promising but unproven practice. Online deliberation can engage large numbers of citizens at relatively low cost, but it is unclear whether such programs have substantial civic impact. One factor in determining their effectiveness may be the communicative features of the online setting in which they occur. Within a Media Richness Theory framework, we conducted a quasiexperiment to assess the civic outcomes of interventions executed online by nonprofit organizations prior to the 2012 U.S. presidential election. The results assess the impact of these interventions on issue knowledge and civic attitudes. Comparisons of the interventions illustrate the importance of considering media richness online, and our discussion considers the theoretical and practical implications of these findings.     

Discussing teaching videocases online: Perspectives of preservice and inservice EFL teachers in Taiwan

This study investigated the application of an online videocase discussion community into fostering preservice and inservice EFL (English as a foreign language) teachers’ professional development in Taiwan. This investigation further revealed the nature and development of discussion discourse and the participating teachers’ perceptions of this online learning experience. Also included were potential concerns or difficulties encountered by these community members. There were 21 preservice teachers, 7 secondary school teachers, and 4 university teachers involved in this study. Multiple data collection methods included teaching videos, online discussion messages, interviews, reflection journals, and an open-ended questionnaire. The findings showed that the preservice and inservice teachers appeared to respectively play different roles in discussing teaching videocases online. Yet, what they noticed in the teaching events shifted from diverse to similar focuses after engaging in online videocase discussion for almost one year. These teachers further perceived professional learning opportunities in this community, albeit several issues might hinder some of them from joining the discussion frequently. Pedagogical implications and research suggestions are offered for teacher educators and researchers to further codify and document teacher professional development in various online videocase discussion contexts.     

Determinants of college students' use of online collaborative help‐seeking tools

Research has noted the effectiveness of online tools (e.g., discussion boards) for supporting help seeking among class members. However, help seeking is not necessarily warranted via online learning tools because some factors (e.g., low Internet self‐efficacy) may influence students' intention to use them. This study aims to identify the determinants of students' use of a web‐based help‐seeking tool called EchoLu. For this purpose, a structural model was developed based on technology acceptance model and tested using a structural equation modelling approach. According to the data analysis results, general Internet self‐efficacy, information‐search self‐efficacy, web‐based learning self‐efficacy, and EchoLu‐specific self‐efficacy play a significant role in students' intentions to use online help‐seeking tools. Contrary to the previous research, no statistically significant relationship was found between general Internet self‐efficacy and EchoLu‐specific self‐efficacy, and between web‐based learning self‐efficacy and perceived usefulness. Implications of the findings for guiding practitioners in supporting effective help‐seeking are presented. Limitations of the study and future research prospects are discussed as well.     

Investigating social network patterns within an empathic online community for older people

In this paper, we study the social network structure of an online discussion board within SeniorNet, an empathic online community for older people. We apply Social Network Analysis (SNA) to analyse the communication patterns and relationships between members of the discussion board. In addition to looking at the structure of the exchanged messages within the discussion board as a whole, we also investigate associations between the communication content and the social network patterns. Our findings show distinct differences between the social network patterns of empathic and non-empathic communications. For example, members are more connected and closer to each other in the social networks that are based on empathic communication compared to non-empathic communication. Additionally our results show that the type of empathic communication (e.g. different kinds of support) is linked to the social network structure within the discussion board.     

Perspectives on the evolution of online communities

The rapid growth of social networks opens interesting research opportunities to make use of the massive information exchanged in day-to-day communication. One of the active research issues related to this aspect is the study of online community formation and evolution in dynamic social networks. As community structure is usually ambiguous, then defining how it evolves over time becomes a challenge in terms of tracking mechanism and evaluation method. In this study, we review the online communities and their evolution tracking mechanisms and discuss the main categories of approaches for tracking community evolution and how they work. We analyse the different solutions proposed under each community evolution tracking category and provide an assessment of their projected performance. Finally, a discussion of analysis insights concerning community evolution and its influence is introduced.     

Determinants of success for online communities: an empirical study

Although online communities can significantly facilitate collaboration among Internet users, the determinants of success of online communities have seldom been studied empirically. Using the updated DeLone and McLean information systems success model as a theoretical framework, this study proposes a research model to examine the determinants for successful use of online communities. Based on a survey of 165 community members, this study uses structural equation modelling (SEM) approach to investigate the research model. The analytical results strongly support the appropriateness of the research model in identifying the determinants of success of online communities. The analytical results also showed that system quality, information quality and service quality had a significant effect on member loyalty through user satisfaction and behavioural intention to use the online community. Finally, this study discusses the implications of these findings and offer directions for future research.     

Determinants of success for online communities: an empirical study

Although online communities can significantly facilitate collaboration among Internet users, the determinants of success of online communities have seldom been studied empirically. Using the updated DeLone and McLean information systems success model as a theoretical framework, this study proposes a research model to examine the determinants for successful use of online communities. Based on a survey of 165 community members, this study uses structural equation modelling (SEM) approach to investigate the research model. The analytical results strongly support the appropriateness of the research model in identifying the determinants of success of online communities. The analytical results also showed that system quality, information quality and service quality had a significant effect on member loyalty through user satisfaction and behavioural intention to use the online community. Finally, this study discusses the implications of these findings and offer directions for future research.