Author: Kadir Deligöz Publisher: Cambridge Scholars Publishing ISBN: 1527590879 Category : Social Science Languages : en Pages : 128
Book Description
Communities are one of the most important factors affecting consumer decisions. The final phase of the concept of community with developing technology and globalization is virtual communities. As this book argues, the subject of virtual communities and how they are changing is also now more relevant than ever before for students, as they will be the future managers and business owners who have to grapple with the effects of the changes in behaviour. This text provides detailed information about the definition, features, and types of virtual communities, and will stimulate academics, students and especially business owners to conduct more research in this field.
Author: Dasgupta, Subhasish Publisher: IGI Global ISBN: 1591407974 Category : Computers Languages : en Pages : 620
Book Description
"This encyclopedia of virtual communities and technologies provides a much needed integrated overview of all the critical concepts, technologies and issues in the area of virtual communities"--Provided by publisher.
Author: Felicia Wu Song Publisher: Peter Lang ISBN: 9781433103957 Category : Computers Languages : en Pages : 204
Book Description
Does contemporary Internet technology strengthen civic engagement and democratic practice? The recent surge in online community participation has become a cultural phenomenon enmeshed in ongoing debates about the health of American civil society. But observations about online communities often concentrate on ascertaining the true nature of community and democracy, typically rehearsing familiar communitarian and liberal perspectives. This book seeks to understand the technology on its own terms, focusing on how the technological and organizational configurations of online communities frame our contemporary beliefs and assumptions about community and the individual. It analyzes key structural features of thirty award-winning online community websites to show that while the values of individual autonomy, egalitarianism, and freedom of speech dominate the discursive content of these communities, the practical realities of online life are clearly marked by exclusivity and the demands of commercialization and corporate surveillance. Promises of social empowerment are framed within consumer and therapeutic frameworks that undermine their democratic efficacy. As a result, online communities fail to revolutionize the civic landscape because they create cultures of membership that epitomize the commodification of community and public life altogether.
Author: Ralph Schroeder Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media ISBN: 1447102770 Category : Computers Languages : en Pages : 239
Book Description
Virtual reality (VR) technology has been developed commercially since the early 1990s [1]. Yet it is only with the growth of the Internet and other high-bandwidth links that VR systems have increasingly become networked to allow users to share the same virtual environment (VE). Shared YEs raise a number of interesting questions: what is the difference between face-to-face interaction and interaction between persons inside YEs? How does the appearance of the "avatar" - as the graphical representation of the user has become known - change the nature of interaction? And what governs the formation of virtual communities? This volume brings together contributions from social scientists and computer scientists who have conducted research on social interaction in various types of YEs. Two previous volumes in this CSCW book series [2, 3] have examined related aspects of research on YEs - social navigation and collaboration - although they do not always deal with VRIVEs in the sense that it is used here (see the definition in Chapter 1). The aim of this volume is to explore how people interact with each other in computer-generated virtual worlds.
Author: Dasgupta, Subhasish Publisher: IGI Global ISBN: 1466615540 Category : Computers Languages : en Pages : 374
Book Description
Technical, Social and Legal Issues in Virtual Communities: Emerging Environments examines a variety of issues related to virtual communities and social networking, addressing issues related to team identification, leader-member issues, social networking for education, participation in social networks, and other issues directly related to this eclectic field of study. This publication provides comprehensive coverage and understanding of the social, cultural, organizational, human, and cognitive issues related to the virtual communities and social networking. Readers will find that this book encompasses an overall body of knowledge regarding participation of individuals, groups and organizations in virtual communities and networks, by providing an outlet for scholarly research in the area.
Author: Panayiotis Zaphiris Publisher: CRC Press ISBN: 9781420090437 Category : Computers Languages : en Pages : 303
Book Description
Growing more quickly than we can study or come to fully understand it, social computing is much more than the next thing. Whether it is due more to technology-driven convenience or to the basic human need to find kindred connection, online communication and communities are changing the way we live. Social Computing and Virtual Communities compiles contributions from international experts to offer the sort of multidisciplinary study that is required in any investigation of communities. Delving fully into theories and methods, application areas, and types of online social environments, this book — Introduces several theories regarding online social interaction Provides a general overview of methodologies, qualitative and quantitative, for analyzing and evaluating virtual communities Makes an in-depth investigation into e-learning communities and the formation of social networks of learners Examines healthcare communities motivated by physical pain, illness, and burdensome symptoms Discusses intellectual property (IP) issues, including those involving user-generated content Delves into the topic of online trust Introduces virtual communities, in which users immerse themselves in a 3D virtual environment, including MMORPG (massively multiplayer online role playing games) Presents an unusual community of older people of Chinese culture who perceive virtual communities as a place where old beliefs and traditional norms can be preserved Explores the rapid rise of social networking sites (SNS) Books of this kind are uncommon. This work not only provides case studies of different domains of virtual communities and different types of social technologies but also emphasizes theoretical and methodological aspects required to research and analyze such communities.
Author: Phylis Johnson Publisher: Peter Lang ISBN: 9781433106163 Category : Second Life Languages : en Pages : 316
Book Description
This book examines the convergence of media in the largest residential virtual community to date in the gaming world: Second Life. This user content-driven platform has brought media makers and audiences together in interactive environments where news, entertainment, and art have become programming for virtual media networks with implications for traditional mainstream programming and distribution. New media moguls are emerging from Second Life and expanding to the larger Metaverse. This book explores media's role in reporting and reflecting the social, political, and economic issues within Second Life and beyond, and includes more than a dozen interviews of active Second Life residents.
Author: Kadir Deligöz
Author: Dasgupta, Subhasish
Author: Felicia Wu Song
Author: Ralph Schroeder
Author: Management Association, Information Resources
Author: Dasgupta, Subhasish
Author: Howard Rheingold
Author: Beth E. Kolko
Author: Panayiotis Zaphiris
Author: Phylis Johnson