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What is Community?
Esther Dyson (1997) characterizes communities as…
“…unit in which people live, work, and play”
Most individuals “live” in several communities concurrently
Communities may be either Formal or Informal
‘Virtual’ Communities & Internet…
“…the Internet can be a powerful enabling technology fostering the development of communities because it supports the very thing that creates community — human interaction…”
Esther Dyson, Release 2.0
‘Virtual’ Communities & Internet…
Characteristics of ‘Virtual’ Communities…
They are independent of geography (place):Community is defined by “like mindedness”, not proximity
They overcome the barriers of time:Communities may be global (across time zones, synchronous limitations)
They share a common need:Communities communicate with each other for encouragement, emotional support, etc.
The Four ‘States’ of Electronic Communication…
When we deal with communication, we can conceptualize the various technologies as being an interaction of Time and Space…
The Communication ‘States’…
Same TimeAny Place
Same TimeSame Place
Any TimeSame Place
Any TimeAny Place
Communication
The Communication ‘States’…
Same Time, Same Place– Synchronous Communication– Examples:
Traditional face-to-face contacts that have been common to Service-Learning activities involving Agencies, Students, Faculty & University personnel
Contact occurs in “real” time — dependent on scheduling effectiveness
– Very Personal contact of all participants
The Communication ‘States’… Same Time, Same Place (Cont’d)
– Low Tech… Does not require any specific technology unless the
nature of the activity is technology-related (e.g., creation of web sites)
– High Touch… High levels of personal contact required, especially
between the students and community agencies Community building occurs as an by-product of the
Service-Learning process, if the students become involved beyond the basic level of service
The Communication ‘States’…
Same Time, Any Place– Synchronous Communication– Examples:
Chat (IRC, Chat, Instant Messenger, etc.) Virtual Environments (MUDs, MOOs, Tapped-
In, etc.) Video and/or Audio Conferencing
– More personal, but requires all parties to be present at same time…
The Communication ‘States’…
Same Time, Any Place (Cont’d)
– High Tech… Synchronous communication requires a
computer with some type of online connection with which to join in community activity…
– Medium Touch… Due to the highly interactive nature of
synchronous communication, individuals within the community interact in “real” time and approximate the feel of face-to-face conversations
The Communication ‘States’…
Any Time, Same Place– Asynchronous Communication– Examples:
Web Sites with Resource Links Online Archives (from Message Boards, Email, and/or
Newsgroups) Online Library Resources (CD-ROMs, DVD-ROMs, etc.)
– While impersonal, these resources are available on a 24/7 basis; the archives can preserve the “oral history” of the ‘virtual’ community
The Communication ‘States’…
Any Time, Same Place (Cont’d)
– High Tech… Asynchronous Communications requires the
computer, Internet Connection & Browser for access Access Privileges may be required at some library
resource sites
– Medium Touch… At its roots, this is relatively Low Touch, but due to the
“shared memory & vision” that it represents, the level of Touch is increased
Necessary for the formation of ‘virtual’ communities
The Communication ‘States’…
Any Time, Any Place– Asynchronous Communications– Examples:
Email (especially web-based email) Mailing Lists/Listserv processors Newsgroups Message Boards/Threaded Discussions
– Less personal (based upon words in messages), but available whenever and wherever the sender or recipient is has time available
The Communication ‘States’…
Any Time, Any Place (Cont’d)
– High Tech… Asynchronous communications requires a computer
connected to the Internet Some specialized software may also be required,
depending on the exact operation being performed
– Low Touch… Reflects about the same level of “Touch” as a form
letter Taking special care in the use of wording and other
conventions, increased personalization may occur
Methods for Information transformation
Documents
DataBases
IntrAnet
Groupware
Face to Face meeting
Communication
Placement
Workshops
Training
Technical writing
3rd Party
Product support
“In the new economy, conversations are the most important form of work. Conversations are the way knowledge workers discover what they know, share it with their colleagues, and in the process create new knowledge for the organization” what's so new about the new economy?, Alan Webber
Obstacles for Information transformation
Trust
Culture differences, language, point of reference
Narrow point of view on 'production process'
Status of information owners
Difficulties in information absorption
Knowledge belong to “special group”
No tolerance for mistakes and help requests
The Shannon-Weaver theory
encoder decoder
Audience size and information age model
גילהמידע
Face to Face conversation
Telephone conversation
Radio broadcasts TV broadcasts
Cable TV broadcastsLecture
BookNewspapers
TheaterGravestone, monument
letters
Heritage, oral law
?millionsfew
size
new
Old/ classic
age
Metcalfe’s Law
The utility (usefulness) of a network equals the square of the number of users
Star Network
Y Network
Chain Network
Circle Network
All-Channel Network
Five Possible Communication Networks for a Four-Person
Group
Degree ofcentralization Very high
FACTOR STAR
Y
CHAIN CIRCLEALL-
CHANNEL
Very high
Low
High
Leadershippredictability
Average groupsatisfaction
Range in individualmember satisfaction
High
High
Low
High
Moderate Very low
Moderate
Moderate
Moderate
Very low
High
Very low
Low
Low
Moderate
Low
Effects of Five Communication Networks
Y
Media Richness
Extended Team SupportExtended Team Support
ExternalExternalInformationInformationServicesServices
CorporateCorporateDatabaseDatabase
GroupGroup toto GroupGroup
FTFFTF MeetingMeeting RoomRoom
VirtualVirtual MeetingMeeting (office)(office)
Information generated Information generated betweenbetween group-to-group group-to-groupand distributed meetingsand distributed meetings
Different TimeDifferent Time
Same TimeSame Time
Small GroupSmall Group
Large GroupLarge Group
Adapted from J. Morrison, 1992 UofAZMIS
Whether you run a public Web site or a private intranet, a discussion server is a must-have
to create a sense of community.
•Listserv
•majordomo
•IRC, ICQ
•Usenet, NNTP
•UToK, Odigo
• ThirdVoice
•iMarkUp
•Napster, Gnutella
•Icast, Jabber, Everybuddy, Bantu
•Bloggers
Collaboration tools and technology
Peer to Peer (P2P)- napster, Gnutella– Kazaa
Data and file sharing– DocSpace– I-drive– FreeBack
Collaborative presentations and meetings– Webex– Centra
Buddy list– ICQ– Odigo
IM– ICQ– YAHOO– AOL– jabber.com– Everybuddy– Bantu– Tribal Voice
Collaboration tools and technology (2)
Web annotations– Odigo– ThirdVoice– Ubique– UtoK– IMarkUp– Icast
Collaborative surfing– Net2gether
Collaborative shopping– Mercata– Mobshop
Interactive commerce– Membiz– Bet and chat
Interactive commerce technologies– human click
Voice/Visual chat– Videonet– Hi-Res
Collaboration tools and technology 3 “WebLogs”
– Blogger, Plastic, Manilasites, Pitas, GreyMatter, Slashdot
WebCamsNetmeeting, webcamnow, etc.
E-Groups:– egroups.com,
groups.yahoo.com,
E-Groups:– Accessboards, Beseen,– Coollist, CustomPost, – Delphi Forums, Ezboard,
LiveUniverse.com, Multicity.com, Topica, World Crossing
Dimensions of interest Proprietary or public
ownership? Read Only vs. Read/Write Synchronous vs. A-
Synchronous Structure: Threaded vs.
non-threaded Structure: moderator? Structure: Automatic
censoring? text only vs. rich media
Specific vs. Open or General topic
Identity: history, anonymity Summarizing tools and
procedures Openness? View counts Availability of finger, buddy
lists Cusomizability by owner, user Cost Speed, updates
Synchronous choices
Talk, n-talk, y-talk IRC, Netmeeting. See
http://www.irchelp.org/irchelp/altircfaq.html
ICQ Web-based synchronous tools, “chats” Stand alone, CGI-based, and Java-based
– see http://www.2meta.com/chats/info/ White-boards, Pow-wow
A-Synchronous tools
Usenet www.liszt.com www.tile.net (for listserv)
…. But then there is the Web…. Forum One:
http://www.forumone.com/
One-third of all users but two-thirds of sales
Users of community features are twice as loyal
How community features enhance content sites
Peer to Peer (P2P) computing A dramatic shift of the Internet
landscape away from exaggerated focus on the WWW.
Peer-to-peer will permeate the enterprise and consumer applications. P2P concentrates on distributed applications and "edge computing."
Reeves & Nass (1996):– Media Equation Theory
Sproull, Subramani, Kiesler, Walker & Waters (1996):– Computerized face as an interface
Using a face as an interface
Technology examples: Microsoft Office tools Microsoft Bob…Agent Ananova NetSage
Technology examples: Microsoft Office tools Microsoft Bob…Agent Ananova NetSage
Virtual presence
Human click’s interactive salesman
Imagiland’s visual chat
The interpersonal, voice
See, e.g. facemail.com
Groupware collaboration tools
Lotus Domino Microsoft Exchange, Outlook Netscape’s Collabra Many others
Settlement Interaction-Communication Stress ModelSimplified from Fletcher 1995
Population
Settlement Types
Hunter-gather camps
Small-scale agricultural communities
Industrial Urban communities
Den
sity
- P
erso
ns
per
hec
tare
I-Limit
C-Limits
Q. Jones, & Rafaeli. S., "Time to Split, Virtually: ‘Discourse Architecture’ and ‘Community Building’ as means to Creating Vibrant Virtual Metropolises" . Electronic Markets, The International Journal of Electronic Commerce and Business Media. Vol. 10, No. 4, 2000, Routledge, London.
A
B
C
Members of a Virtual Public
Co
gn
itiv
e P
roce
ssin
gL
oad
fo
r G
rou
p-C
MC
Variable Levels ofCognitive Effort
Individuals are Willing toInvest in Processing
Interactive CMC
Virtual Public Technologyand Message Processing Capacity
Virtual Public Interactive User-Population
Virtual Public Technologies
Hypothetical Synchronous CMC-Tool
Hypothetical Asynchronous CMC-Tool
Com
mu
nic
atio
n L
oad
I-Limit
C-Limits
Virtual PublicUser-Population
Virtual PublicCommunication Load
Example of Virtual Public
Nonlinear Feedback Loop
DecisionTo Engage
Virtual Public
Discourse
DecisionTo Disengage
Design Strategies“Social Scaffolding”
Define and Articulate PURPOSE
Build flexible, extensible PLACES
Create member PROFILES
Design for ROLES Develop
LEADERSHIP
Encourage ETIQUETTE
Promote cyclic EVENTS
Integrate RITUALS Facilitate
SUBGROUPS
Based on: Amy Jo Kim’ Community Building on the Web
Netiquette issues
Remember the Human
Adhere to the same standards of behavior online that you follow in real life
Know where you are in cyberspace
Respect other people's time and bandwidth
Make yourself look good online
Share expert knowledge
Help keep flame wars under control
Respect other people's privacy
Don't abuse your power
Be forgiving of other people's mistakes
Media richness (paucity), self presentation, flaming and social control issues
Key to Groupware success is synchronous/asynchronous integrated audio/video/data
Audio Technology
Advantages– in place– easy to use– cheap
Disadvantages– low media richness– primarily “same time”– less useful for large groups
Video Technology
Advantages– personal– fulfills participant expectations– high media richness
Disadvantages– not universally available– expensive/lacking standards– potential for cultural confusion
Data Technology
Advantages– widely available– more time independent– very cheap
Disadvantages– impersonal– low media richness– requires extended support
CSCW
CSCW - work being done between more than one individual where the collaboration is supported by the computer
Groupware - software systems that support collaboration
Types of Groupware
Electronic Mail Electronic Calendar Management Document Management Systems Workflow Computing Systems Electronic Meeting Support Worksharing Systems Work Monitoring Systems
What is CSCW?
Building software tools that support better communication– electronic mail - Eudora– computer conferencing - Chat Rooms – voice messaging - PhoneMail– media spaces – Netmeeting 3.01– EMS - Electronic Meeting Systems -
Ventana
What is CSCW?
Building software tools that support better sharing of work tasks and work processes– remote file sharing - Lotus Notes– shared drawing and editing tools, e.g.,
Netmeeting– shared whiteboards - Netmeeting– screen sharers - Netmeeting– work coordinators - Answer Garden
What is CSCW?
Determining how to build interfaces that support communication and sharing– studies of electronic meeting systems– studies of how people verbally negotiate
work– studies of how people write together– studies of the impact of desktop video
conferencing
What is CSCW?
Performing a systems analysis and design on existing workgroup collaboration in order to determine how to best support it with groupware– studies of the work processes people
engage in– studies of the organizational schemes
people use– studies of the communication links
between people in an organization
Software that is Groupware
Electronic mail– software supports the asynchronous
communication of individuals Electronic meeting rooms
– software supports the meeting process Electronic whiteboards
– software supports the capability for multiple people to write on the same screen at the same time (and possibly remotely)
Software that is Groupware
Media Spaces - videoconferencing with computer added features– software supports the video switching in
order to set up subgroups of meeting participants and add cooperative features to the video exchange
Shared calendar systems– software helps group members plan
meetings and share availability information
Software that is NOT Groupware Videoconferencing
– although software is used to compress the video signal, it is for the purposes of conserving bandwidth not to support collaboration
Telephone Communication– basic telephone service uses software for
switching not for collaboration, but today’s telephones are becoming more and more collaborative
Business Reasons for Groupware Individuals in offices, restaurants,
homes, hospitals, etc., perform most of their work by communicating with others
Business Reasons for Groupware Groupware allows managers to
rethink how they run their businesses– People no longer need to work in the
same place– The cost of employee communication is
significantly lowered– Getting the status of work in progress is
easier
Breakdown of Communication
Asynchronous Synchronous
Same Location
DifferentLocation
Electronic Post It Notes
Electronic MeetingRoom
Electronic MailVideo MailComputer Confer-encing
Media Spaces
What is Wrong with Breakdown? Structure is based only on
communication Other facets of collaboration are also
important– e.g., knowing what someone else is
doing by being able to scan the areas they have changed in a work product
– knowing that others are at work the same time as you are
What is Wrong with Breakdown? Groupware systems now integrate
more than one area shown on the chart
The structure was made primarily by people setting up network structures to support groupware.
Structure does not capture the richness of groupware
The Breakdown is Still Useful
Synchronous communication implies that support must be given for many of the communication cues people use even if people are not co-located
Same place communication implies that the computer tools need to be integrated with the communication process so that the communication goes smoothly
CSCW Failure
Many of today’s CSCW systems have been failures– Why do you think this is so?– What do you think the major causes of
these failures are?– What do you think can be done to
overcome these failures?
What Systems are Successful Electronic Mail? Voice Mail? Videoconferencing? Calendar Systems?
– What are their advantages?– What are their disadvantages?
25 Principles of Proven Practice 5 groups of 5: Teams and Teaming Team Commitment Team Communications and Processes Team Technology Team Knowledge
Teams and Teaming
1. Teams are the organization powerhouse 2. Best knowledge teams: 5-8, multi-
disciplined 3. Larger groups for cohesion or networking ... but not real work! 4. Each individual in 2 or more teams 5. Distinguish person and role.
Team Commitment
6. Clarity of purpose - mission, vision, goals 7. Norms and values 8. Map out networks - core and extended
teams e.g. Netmap often shows teams are
wrong! 9. Determine interdependencies/ flows 10. Individuals maintain personal networks
Team Processes
11. Communicate, communicate, communicate
12. Active listening - play back - understand 13. Recognize fuzziness of decision making 14. Learn together - all the time 15. Build trust in depth ......don’t get too task focused!! Think
process
Team Technology
16. Not just email - a broad mix 17. Agree standards and product set 18. Make team documents web-
centric 19. Content/usages standards e.g.
email 20. Experiment - but don’t use a
technology just for the sake of it
Knowledge Communities
Clear shared purpose People profiles FAQs Threaded conversations Good moderation Knowledge editing Attention to process/FTF
When time constraints Wrong participants No clarity/coherence Wandering ‘off topic’ Off vs. on record clarity No summarizing/FAQs Technology gimmicks
Effective Ineffective
Team Knowledge
21. A vital resource - who is responsible? 22. Emails are embryonic knowledge 23. A knowledge editor for each domain 24. Capture lessons all the time 25. Personal Knowledge: Know your
colleagues! ......Conversations and Collections
Resources
Net.Gain Hagel and Armstrong Netiquette by Virginia Shea Alphabet to Email How Written English
Evolved and Where It's Heading by Naomi S. Baron
Network and Netplay:Virtual Groups on the Internet, by Fay Sudweeks,
Margaret McLaughlin and Sheizaf Rafaeli “Meeting of the Minds”, PC Mag Online:
– http://www.zdnet.com/pcmag/features/discussion/_intro.htm
Resources (2)
D. LaLiberte on collaboration projects: http://www.hypernews.org/HyperNews/get/www/collaboration.html
Woolley’s Conferencing guide to software: – http://freenet.msp.mn.us/people/drwool/
webconf.html
Third Voice, Good or Bad?– Jeremy Bowers
http://www.cse.msu.edu/~bowersj2/third.voice/third.html
(Third voice… gone!, April 2001)
