Abstract
The dominance of social media technologies on the Internet has located virtual communities around the use of proprietary social networking platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram, although the situation, location and definition of any online community are constantly evolving. Belonging to a number of these online communities, through social networking sites or forums is becoming a normal practice among Internet users. Yet much of the academic analysis of these online communities and networks takes place in isolation from the activities of the community itself in real life. This abstracts the community ties that people also hold offline with their online networks and does not consider the relationships and interactions that may also exist offline. This article will explore the experiences of archaeologists using the micro-blogging platform Twitter, and explore how the format and communication supported by Twitter creates a sense of community online and offline, and support professional and personal networking, using the concepts of weak ties and social capital.
Highlights
Research into online communities has been part of the landscape of social science since the earliest developments of the participatory aspects of the world wide web and the work of Rheingold (1993) and Wellman and Gulia (1999), amongst others
The definition of 'community' has been a central concern of historians, philosophers and sociologists since the 19th century, and one with a narrative of decline, as the traditional forms of geographically located community were observed by sociologists to be threatened by the social changes that accompanied the growth of urbanisation, communications technology and modernity (Bender 1978, 3)
The work of Jensen et al (2007), which explored the role of the Internet in community groups and political activity, suggests that while online activity is socially embedded, online community activism clusters around political action, information seeking, and contacting political actors, and the level of social engagement is reduced when compared to being a simple extension of offline relationships
Summary
The dominance of social media technologies on the Internet has located virtual communities around the use of proprietary social networking platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram, the situation, location and definition of any online community are constantly evolving. Much of the academic analysis of these online communities and networks takes place in isolation from the activities of the community itself in real life. This abstracts the community ties that people hold offline with their online networks and does not consider the relationships and interactions that may exist offline. This article will explore the experiences of archaeologists using the micro-blogging platform Twitter, and explore how the format and communication supported by Twitter creates a sense of community online and offline, and support professional and personal networking, using the concepts of weak ties and social capital
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