Week 4: Key Points from: ‘Blogs as Virtual Communities: Identifying a Sense of Community’ Pt 2

Can blogs be 'Virtual Communities'?

In order to establish whether blogs have the characteristics of a V.C, we must identify whether blogs have characteristics of a virtual settlement and what their sense of community is.

Blogs can be about personal thoughts, a topic or a journal etc. There is usually a place where readers/subscribers of the blog can post comments. This creates interaction.

Blogs can also have links to other internet sites-developing networks of 'blogroll's which refer to one another.

Do these features make blogs a V.C?

A virtual settlement requires one to one communication/interaction, which a blog does have between a the reader and author (through posting comments). However some blogs do not have a place to comment, making these non-interactive blogs. So this would exclude blogs from being a V.C but perhaps it could be considered as a virtual settlement.

Lurkers- these are members of a V.C who regularly participate by reading messages but do not contribute anything back. They are seen as negative because they do not contribute anything to the V.C