There are definitely different roles people can take on as members of a community. Lurkers are part of a community because, as described by Nonnecke and Preece 1999 “others become so familiar with the community that they feel they belong to it in-spite of their bystander behaviour.” (Preece, 2001, Online Communities, page 87) However, because they aren’t actually participating are they taking on a role within the community? As part of a community it’s fair that people want to know what’s happening, but without contributing I don’t believe they can be seen as an active member, although there is no doubt they do exist. Linking in with ‘Virtual Settlement’ it seems to emphasise the need for interaction. The discourse of online communities does entail interaction and some kind of dialogue. “… public interaction among a minimal number of participants.” (Blanchard) XXXXX
However, as a counter point, community can be in the eye of the beholder, people have the choice to make what they want to out of what is being offered to them. Alike what was mentioned in interaction in last weeks blogs, people have a longer amount of time to contribute to the communities’ topics etc. An example of this can be for new forum/online community users who “want to assess the community’s ambience and get a feel for the style of interaction.” (Preece, 2001, Online Communities, page 100)
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RINCY
ReplyDeleteHi Cara,
ReplyDeleteI'm having difficulty forming an opinion of lurkers. Whilst it's something I'm guilty of (maybe why i'm reluctant to say that they're all underminding the community) I still can't really see any harm they're causing.
Often I'll look at a forum but have nothing to really add to the discussion, and feel a bit stupid merely rewording an opinion that someone else has said. If I feel strongly about something and wish to bring my opinion to the table, I will, but if I'll be simply putting "I agree with what so and so has already said" is there really any point in it other than to add to the vainity of the community to have as many contributors as possible?
I don't see them as harming anything, but I wouldn't class them as playing a role within a community.
ReplyDeleteThe element of repetition is common in communities, and it's probably an avoidance of this why some people are seen as lurkers when they don't contribute.
How does it feel for most of one's efforts to go without comment though? (the story of my life!)
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