Use Of Online Communities Research Articles

Entrepreneurial learning in online communities

New digital technologies possess the potential to transform entrepreneurial processes, such as how entrepreneurs pursue opportunities and access funding and how they learn. How entrepreneurs learn may be transformed as digital technologies provide new spaces for learning, such as online communities. Online communities can gather thousands of participants and provide entrepreneurs with new opportunities for learning that are not limited by time, space, or social class. Yet, we know little about how entrepreneurs take advantage of the new digital opportunities of learning. To remedy this, we studied a large online community of entrepreneurs on Reddit (r/startups), where we qualitatively analyzed the top-voted 100 threads from 2018 to 2019 (10,277 comments in total). By drawing on coactive vicarious learning, a theory that describes how learning is socially constructed through discursive interactions, we outline how entrepreneurial learning is socially constructed through conversations, which are taking place in different micro-learning contexts. Through identifying distinct entrepreneurial learning conversations, we build new theory on entrepreneurial learning in online communities. Our theorizing contributes to (1) the growing research on how entrepreneurial learning is socially constructed in communities, (2) the current debate on knowledge creation in online communities, and (3) the knowledge on how coactive vicarious learning unfolds in communities.Plain English SummaryWhen entrepreneurs go online to learn, new research shows how online communities provide entrepreneurs with diverse learning spaces for developing ideas, learning new skills, and coping with the uncertainties of being an entrepreneur. Entrepreneurs increasingly use social media for doing business, but can they also use it to learn about doing business? In this article, we investigate this question by studying an online community of entrepreneurs on Reddit called r/startups, in which entrepreneurs exchange experiences and help each other with questions and issues. We show that entrepreneurial learning is taking place in five forms of learning conversations, which are situated in four learning contexts that differ from each other, from a classroom with a student–teacher dynamic, a collab space where entrepreneurs collect ideas and develop new skills and knowledge, a club context in which they challenge each other, and a care context in which they can bring their fears and uncertainties. Our findings show how entrepreneurship practitioners can make use of online communities, encouraging teaching and policy to pay more attention to how entrepreneurs work digitally.

Structural Relationships among Online Community Use, Parental Stress, Social Support, and Quality of Life between Korean and Taiwanese Employed Mothers

This study examined mothers’ online community (OC) use and its structural relationship with parental stress, social support, and quality of life (QoL) under the social perspective of leisure and the theory of social support as a stress buffer. The population comprised employed mothers in two countries, Korea and Taiwan, which constitute appropriate settings for cross-cultural comparisons in the context of mothers’ OC use. The online questionnaire was distributed to 12 Korean mothers’ OCs and 14 Taiwanese mothers’ OCs, targeting employed mothers who have at least one child under seven-years-old and access mothers’ OCs on a regular basis. A total of 232 Korean and 303 Taiwanese responses were analyzed to examine the structural relationships among four key variables using structural equation modelling in AMOS 20. This study confirms that more parental stress leads to worse QoL. However, more parental stress results in less frequent participation in OCs, and OC use exerts a negative influence on QoL, which contradicts the hypothesized positive correlations. In comparison among Korean and Taiwanese mothers, Korean respondents showed a stronger influence of parental stress to mobilize more social support than did Taiwanese. This multidisciplinary study contributes to expanding the literature in noncommercial OCs, employed mothers in online leisure, and online social support in cross-cultural settings to promote the sustainability of families’ wellbeing.

A Taxonomy of Knowledge Sharing in Online Communities

Despite the widespread adoption and use of online communities, little effort has been afforded to understand and distinguish between the different types of knowledge sharing that is undertaken in such communities. This paper addresses this gap by presenting the first taxonomy of knowledge sharing in online communities. Our findings provide interesting insights into the dimensions and characteristics of different knowledge sharing archetypes. Avenues for how future research can build on this work are also identified.

Identification of network behavioral characteristics of high-expertise users in interactive innovation: The case of forum autohome

With the development of mobile internet, an increasing number of enterprises have made use of online forum, communities and other social media to closely cooperate with users for interactive innovation. Thereby, how to use users’ network behavioral data to identify those high-expertise users is an issue of great concern for enterprises’ identification of valuable lead users and implementation of products’ interactive innovation. In this paper, a questionnaire is conducted to divide automobile knowledge and ability into five grades. Following that, a 5-level automobile terminology word bank containing 560 terminologies is built based on statistical results of samples. According to the terminology word bank, the corpuses of 399 users are selected from the autohome.com to analyze and quantify their expertise. Finally, models based on the two-stage least square method is adopted for correlation analysis of users’ expertise and their network behavioral characteristics. Empirical results suggest that users with high expertise in the network generally demonstrate the following six characteristics: a high centrality in the social networks, a high frequency of replies, a high length of posts, a large number of post replies, a large number of fans, activeness of users in multiple subgroups. The main contribution of this study is twofold: propose a method to quantify the user’s expertise based on user’s corpus; provide a new perspective for finding high-value users in enterprise interaction innovation practice.

Context-Based Expert Finding in Online Communities Using Ant Colony Algorithm

Online communities are the most popular interactive environments on the Internet, which provide users with a platform to share their knowledge and expertise. The most important use of online communities in cyberspace is sharing knowledge. These communities are a great place to ask questions and find answers. The important challenges of these communities are the large volume of information and the lack of a method to determine their validity as well as expert finding which attracted a lot of attention in both industry and academia in. Therefore, identifying persons with relevant knowledge on a given topic and ranking them according to their expertise score can help to calculate the accuracy of the comments submitted on the internet. In this research, a model for finding experts and determining their domain expertise level by the aid of statistical calculations and the ant colony algorithm in the MetaFilter online community was presented. The WordNet Dictionary was used to determine the relevance of the user’s questions with the intended domain. The proposed algorithm determines the level of people’s expertise in the intended field by using the pheromone section of the Ant colony algorithm, which is based on the similarity of the questions sent by the users and the shared knowledge of the users from their interactions in the online community

Information technology teachers’ perceptions of the benefits and efficacy of using online communities of practice when teaching computer skills classes

This research explores the ways in which Information Technology (IT) teachers experience the use of online communities of practice (CoP) in teaching a computer course called Computer Skills 2 (WRCO2). This course is the second of two computer skills courses in the Work Readiness Program (WRP) running at a Higher Education Institution in the Middle East (HEIME). This course focuses on the use of prior foundational knowledge acquired in the first course to develop understanding and proficiency in the use and application of computer skills and concepts. A phenomenological approach has been chosen to help understand and explore the qualitatively different ways in which particular teachers experience the use of online CoP as a social and collaborative learning system. Two specific questions were considered: (1) “How did teachers experience the use of online CoP in teaching the computer skills 2 classes?” (2) “What benefits, if any, have been derived from using online CoP in teaching this course?” Data collection in this study was conducted using a digitally recorded unstructured interview, which allowed the participants to voice their experiences. As a theoretical framework, the basic elements: domain, community and practice were considered (Lave & Wenger, 1991; Wenger, 1998; Wenger, McDermott, & Snyder, 2002). The data explicitation process (as defined and used by (Giorgi, 2009)) resulted in the identification of a number of themes. Similar themes were then grouped together to form four central themes representing the essence of the original ones. The central themes were: (1) to promote student collaboration; (2) to redefine the teacher’s role; (3) to encourage student engagement; and (4) to manage the teachers’ increased workload. This was followed by a discussion of the benefits and challenges arising from using online CoP in teaching the course, as well as the description of the limitations within this study.

Perceptions, attitudes, and outcomes of human-snake encounters: A retrospective study of an online discussion community in Nigeria

Abstract. Babalola OJ, Jegede HO, Ogundro BN. 2020. Perceptions, attitudes, and outcomes of human-snake encounters: A retrospective study of an online discussion community in Nigeria. Asian J Ethnobiol 21: 1-9. The internet is a useful tool for obtaining data needed to study factors that hinder snake conservation especially in resource-limited settings. There is a paucity of peer-reviewed research on the use of online communities in the study of factors contributing to undesirable human-snake conflicts in Nigeria. A 12-month dataset (August 2016-July 2017) on human-snake encounters shared on Nairaland®- a popular online community forum in Nigeria - was retrieved and analyzed. Morphological characteristics observed in the snake photographs posted on the platform were used for species identification. A total of 203 human-snake encounters were recorded from 32/37 States of Nigeria. Men (n=133) reported more human-snake encounters than women (n =11) while “reporters of unspecified gender (n =59) accounted for the rest. Most postings were from the southern part of Nigeria with the highest number of postings from Lagos State (n =34). Of the 24 snake species reported in the study, the African Rock Python was the most encountered. The months of May to July recorded the highest number of snake species reported by the respondents. ‘Fear’ and ‘food’ were the major perceptions elicited by people during snake encounters. The outcome of human-snake conflicts resulted in snake deaths (n =182) irrespective of snake venomosity. Only 1.0% (n=2) of the snakes were protected from harm. This study revealed that data from online community forums are useful for retrospective studies of the perceptions and outcomes of human-snake encounters; the output of which policymakers and conservationists may find useful.

The use of online discussion forums and communities for health research.

The use of online discussion forums and communities for health research.

Content marketing in e-commerce platforms in the internet celebrity economy

PurposeWith the popularity of social media and, recently, live streaming, internet celebrity endorsements have become a prevalent approach to content marketing for e-commerce sellers. Despite the widespread use of social media and online communities, empirical studies investigating the economic value of user-generated content (UGC) and marketer-generated content (MGC) still lag behind. The purpose of this paper is to contribute both theoretically and practically to capture both first-order effects and second-order effects of internet celebrity endorsements on marketing outcomes in an e-commerce context.Design/methodology/approachThis study conducts a cross-sectional regression to evaluate the economic value of internet celebrity endorsement, and a panel vector autoregressive model is adopted to examine the relationship between celebrities’ and consumers’ content marketing behaviors and e-commerce sales performance. The authors also adopt look-ahead propensity-score matching technique to correct for selection bias.FindingsThe empirical results show that the content generation efforts of marketers and the interaction behaviors between marketers and consumers will significantly influence the e-commerce sales, which refers to the first-order effects of internet celebrity endorsement. Moreover, interactions within the fan community exert second-order effects of content marketing on sales performance.Originality/valueThis paper provides new insights for e-commerce retailers to evaluate the economic values of internet celebrity endorsement, a new content marketing practice in e-commerce platform.

Online Professional Learning of Pakistan and Bhutan Teacher-Educators

This paper explores Pakistan and Bhutan teacher-educator digital competency about the use of social media, digital resources and professional online communities and implications of this use on professional learning. The two countries, less discussed in international educational literature, are facing a growing use of the Internet in teaching and learning. Data include a survey completed by 67 teacher-educators from Pakistan and 37 teachers from Bhutan, as well as semi-structured interviews from both countries. This study provides evidence of how teachers’ interaction on social networks and the use of digital resources plays a central role in the introduction of innovative pedagogical practices of teacher-educators, and teacher-educators remain interested in knowledge sharing through social media for their professional learning.

Global South teacher educators in digital landscape: implications on professional learning

Abstract This article explores Pakistani and Bhutanese teacher educators’ digital competences about the use of social media, digital resources and professional online communities and implications of this on professional learning. The two countries, less discussed in international educational literature, are facing a growing use of the Internet in teaching and learning. Data include a survey completed by 67 teacher educators from Pakistan and 37 teachers from Bhutan, as well as semi-structured interviews from both countries. This study provides evidence of how teachers’ interaction on social networks and the use of digital resources play a central role in the introduction of innovative pedagogical practices of teacher educators, and teacher educators remain interested in knowledge sharing through social media for their professional learning.

Benefits and Challenges Associated with Using Online Communities by Social Enterprises: A Thematic Analysis of Qualitative Interviews

Social Enterprises (SEs) have gained a considerable amount of attention during last decade in entrepreneurship sector. This paper aims to investigate the benefits and challenges associated with the use of online communities (OCs) by actors in SE sector for value co-creation. Nine semi-structured interviews were conducted with actors derived primarily from 4 Facebook OCs dedicated for SEs. Results demonstrate that the benefits of using OCs include increased accessibility, time and cost effectiveness, increased responsiveness, accessing to a network of connections, and resource exchange opportunities. However, the challenges include time-consuming, budget, lack of capacity, inadequate moderation, fragmentation of efforts, and inactivity.

Women composers’ use of online communities of practice to build and support their careers

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to examine women composers’ use of online communities of practice (CoP) to negotiate the traditionally masculine space of music composition while operating outside its hierarchical structures.Design/methodology/approachThe authors employed a mixed methods approach consisting of an online survey (n=225) followed by 27 semi-structured in-depth interviews with female composers to explore the concept and use of CoP. Content analysis was used to analyze the survey responses and interpretative phenomenological analysis was used to interpret respondents’ lived experiences as relayed in the interviews.FindingsThe findings reveal that the online environment can be a supportive and safe space for female composers to connect with others and find support, feedback and mentorship, increase their visibility and develop career agency through learning and knowledge acquisition. CoP emerged as an alternative approach to career development for practicing female music workers and as a tool which could circumvent some of the enduring gendered challenges.Originality/valueThe findings suggest that online CoP can have a positive impact on the career development and sustainability of women in male-dominated sectors such as composition.

Look at Us, We Have Anxiety: Youth, Memes, and the Power of Online Cultural Politics

Childhood is often defined by social marginalization— by a denial of access to public space and voice, and the circumscription of what interests, issues, and discourses are open to young people. The internet, as a space of expression that has lowered barriers to entry and confounded attempts at social control, is one of the primary spaces in which 21st-century youth are able to resist adult efforts to regulate their agency and expression. However, it is not only the technological tools of the online world that help them to resist marginalization from public discourse in these spaces, but also its symbolic and cultural resources—shared ideas, practices, and vocabularies particular to online communities. As part of larger projects on teens’ and young adults’ use of online communities to engage with cultural politics, I have been investigating the use of memes—patterns of formulaic content that rise and fall in popularity in short periods of time—in social critique, ideological discourse, community building, and identity representation. This paper examines the impact of memes on cultural discourse and, indirectly, on institutional politics, exploring their potential as an empowering channel of expression as well as their ongoing use as a tool of manipulation by larger political forces. I argue that understanding the cultural power of memes and other aspects of online remix culture is vital to theorizing contemporary politics, to analyzing the experiences and identities of contemporary youth, and to preventing the worst eventualities the increasing significance of online cultural politics may enable.

워킹맘의 온라인 여가로서의 온라인 커뮤니티 이용과 사회적 지지, 일-가족 전이, 그리고 삶의 질 간의 구조적 영향관계 연구

워킹맘의 온라인 여가로서의 온라인 커뮤니티 이용과 사회적 지지, 일-가족 전이, 그리고 삶의 질 간의 구조적 영향관계 연구

Effect of Diabetes Online Community Engagement on Health Indicators: Cross-Sectional Study.

BackgroundSuccessful diabetes management requires ongoing lifelong self-care and can require that individuals with diabetes become experts in translating care recommendations into real-life day-to-day diabetes self-care strategies. The diabetes online community comprises multiple websites that include social media sites, blogs, and discussion groups for people with diabetes to chat and exchange information. Online communities can provide disease-specific practical advice and emotional support, allow users to share experiences, and encourage self-advocacy and patient empowerment. However, there has been little research about whether diabetes online community use is associated with better diabetes self-care or quality of life.ObjectiveThe aim of this study was to survey adults with diabetes who participated in the diabetes online community to better understand and describe who is using the diabetes online community, how they are using it, and whether the use of the diabetes online community was associated with health indicators.MethodsWe recruited adults diagnosed with diabetes who used at least one of 4 different diabetes-related online communities to complete an online survey. Participants’ demographics, reported glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c), health-related quality of life (SF-12v2), level of diabetes self-care (Self-Care Inventory-Revised), and diabetes online community use (level of intensity and engagement) were collected. We examined the relationships between demographics, diabetes online community use, and health indicators (health-related quality of life, self-care, and HbA1c levels). We used binary logistic regression to determine the extent to which diabetes online community use predicted an HbA1c <7% or ≥7% after controlling statistically for other variables in the model.ResultsA total of 183 adults participated in this study. Participants were mostly female (71.6%, 131/183), white (95.1%, 174/183), US citizens (82.5%, 151/183), had type 1 diabetes (69.7%, 129/183), with a mean age of 44.7 years (SD 14) and diabetes duration of 18.2 years (SD 14.6). Participants had higher diabetes self-care (P<.001, mean 72.4, SD 12.1) and better health-related quality of life (physical component summary P<.001, mean 64.8, SD 19; mental component summary P<.001, mean 66.6, SD 21.6) when compared with norms for diabetes. Diabetes online community engagement was a strong predictor of A1c, reducing the odds of having an A1c ≥7% by 33.8% for every point increase in diabetes online community engagement (0-5). Our data also indicated that study participants are oftentimes (67.2%, 123/183) not informing their healthcare providers about their diabetes online community use even though most (91.2%, 161/181) are seeing their healthcare provider on a regular basis.ConclusionsOur results suggest that individuals highly engaged with diabetes online community are more likely to have better glycemic levels compared with those with lower engagement. Furthermore, diabetes online community users have high health-related quality of life and diabetes self-care levels. Supplementing usual healthcare activities with diabetes online community use may encourage knowledge and support among a population that needs to optimize its diabetes self-care. Further studies are needed to determine how diabetes online community engagement may affect health outcomes.

Social Media Use and Well-Being in People with Physical Disabilities: Influence of SNS and Online Community Uses on Social Support, Depression, and Psychological Disposition

ABSTRACTThis study examined the relationships across social media use, social support, depression, and general psychological disposition among people with movement or mobility disabilities in Korea. First, with survey data (n = 91) collected from users of social network sites (SNSs) and online communities, hypotheses regarding positive associations between intensity of an individual’s engagement in social media and four different types of social support—emotional, instrumental, informational, and appraisal support—were tested as well as hypotheses regarding mediation effects of the social support variables in the association between social media use and depression. Second, through focus group interviews (n = 15), influences of social media use on social support were more thoroughly explored as well as their influences on general psychological disposition. Results from hierarchical regression analyses confirmed that both intensity of SNS use and online community use significantly predicted instrumental, informational, and appraisal support, while they did not predict emotional support. Further regression and Sobel tests showed that higher levels of intensity of SNS use and of online community use both led to lower levels of depression through the mediation of instrumental and informational support. Analysis of the interviews further revealed the positive roles of social media use in building social support and healthy psychological dispositions. However, analysis also revealed some negative consequences of and limitations to social media use for those with physical disabilities. These findings expand our knowledge of the context and implications of engaging in online social activities for people with physical disabilities.

Excessive Gambling and Online Gambling Communities.

The Internet provides an accessible context for online gambling and gambling-related online communities, such as discussion forums for gamblers. These communities may be particularly attractive to young gamblers who are active Internet users. The aim of this study was to examine the use of gambling-related online communities and their relevance to excessive gambling among 15-25-year-old Finnish Internet users (N = 1200). Excessive gambling was assessed by using the South Oaks Gambling Screen. Respondents were asked in a survey about their use of various kinds of gambling-related online communities, and sociodemographic and behavioral factors were adjusted. The results of the study revealed that over half (54.33%) of respondents who had visited gambling-related online communities were either at-risk gamblers or probable pathological gamblers. Discussion in these communities was mainly based on sharing gambling tips and experiences, and very few respondents said that they related to gambling problems and recovery. In three different regression models, visiting gambling-related online communities was a significant predictor for excessive gambling (with 95% confidence level) even after adjusting confounding factors. The association of visiting such sites was even stronger among probable pathological gamblers than among at-risk gamblers. Health professionals working with young people should be aware of the role of online communities in terms of development and persistence of excessive gambling. Monitoring the use of online gambling communities as well as utilizing recovery-oriented support both offline and online would be important in preventing further problems. Gambling platforms should also include warnings about excessive gambling and provide links to helpful sources.

Foresight by online communities – The case of renewable energies

Web 2.0 offers manifold ways in order to integrate community members via online communities (OCs) for innovation processes. OCs prove to be a valuable and dynamic source of information. External information sources are also important for foresight in order to be able to identify and monitor all relevant changes. However, traditional foresight methods are rather static in comparison with dynamic OCs. Thus, this study gives first insights into the use of OCs for foresight. First, based on literature, it is conceptually shown that OCs can contribute to foresight. Second, the question of how to assess the potential of OCs for foresight is considered. Renewable energies OCs are identified using a netnographic approach. One selected OC is analyzed in-depth by applying a prior developed criteria catalog which is based on Popper's (2008) foresight diamond. Each of its four dimensions – creativity, expertise, interaction, and evidence – is operationalized with measurement items taken from literature. In particular, the evidence dimension is supported by a text mining approach. Lastly, a focus group interview proves the usefulness of OCs for foresight. The findings show that OCs can contribute to each dimension of the foresight diamond and serve as an additional source of information for foresight.

A Preliminary Examination of Doctoral Student Retention Factors in Private Online Workspaces

Aim/Purpose: The purpose of this quantitative descriptive study is to provide a preliminary examination of students’ retention factors of engagement, communication, and isolation that may be affected by the introduction and use of online communities for dissertation development within an online doctoral program. Background: This research is a continuation of the university’s 5-year research initiative to address the high national rate of doctoral attrition by investigating whether private online workspaces provide a virtual platform to increase student interaction, enhance student communication, and reduce student perception of isolation. Methodology: A quantitative descriptive study of 698 doctoral students (n1 = 355, n2 = 179, n3 = 184) in the online environment across three survey periods over a span of 30 months. Contribution: In 30 months, student engagement increased, perceptions of effective communication by students with dissertation committees improved, and student perceptions of isolation remained unchanged. Findings: The implementation of online workspaces for doctoral students addressed factors experienced in online doctoral programs. The introduction of private doctoral workspaces significantly improved doctoral students’ perceptions of more effective communication with their dissertation committees. Perceptions of isolation remained unchanged with the introduction of the technology. Recommendations for Practitioners: Universities and faculty should make proactive efforts to utilize the online tools available to them to facilitate improved communication and reduce isolation within online doctoral programs. Recommendation for Researchers: The implementation of online workspaces appears to mitigate some factors associated with student attrition, but the extent of these changes is unknown. Future research should continue to examine the factors of retention as a pathway to reducing attrition within the online learning environment. Impact on Society: The implementation of private online workspaces appears to lessen factors associated with student attrition, providing opportunities for improved utilization of personal and university resources, improved professional standing for graduates, and an enhanced reputation for online learning programs. Future Research: Further examination is needed to determine to what extent various communication methods affect a student’s experience and increase connectivity between the student and the institution, as well as research to better understand the phenomenon of students’ perceptions of isolation within online environments.