Towards an Interdisciplinary Socio-Technical Definition of Virtual Communities

Abstract

The objective of this chapter is to offer a holistic perspective of virtual communities (VCs) by outlining their underlying concepts and fundamental properties. Firstly, the chapter offers a brief synopsis of research fields that form the basis of socio-technical research on VCs. Key issues and theoretical orientations from four research streams are discussed, namely: sociological/psychological; technological; business/management; and economic perspectives. Following this review, the chapter provides a summary of four interdisciplinary literature domains that have significantly contributed to the body of knowledge on VCs. These include: computer mediated communication; community informatics; knowledge management; and internet marketing. Definitions from seminal research studies in these domains are subsequently synthesized to propose an interdisciplinary socio-technical definition of VCs. The proposed definition offers a nascent ascriptive characterization of VCs along five dimensions of participants, purpose, platforms, protocols and persona – together constituting the 5 Ps of VCs.