The Internet is revolutionizing human communication. With it, new ways of exchanging information are created, enabling intimacy even without significant physical proximity. This thesis seeks to examine one Internet community, " The Republic of Pemberley", a virtual community in English about Jane Austen’s books and life. It addresses the relationships that are forged online, the trajectories of the community’s members as they discover, join, participate in and leave the group and the ways the community structures itself. Two main methodologies are employed in this research; Ethnography and in depth interviews, all conducted over the Internet. The study argues that, apart from serving the most dedicated Jane Austen fans by providing them with a place to discuss the minutiae of Austen’s work and life, Pemberley functions as a scene for strong social interactions and the creation of friendships online and beyond.

Abstract In March 2010, BusinessNext magazine examined Taiwan¡¦s top 100 most popular website, and virtual community websites occupied approximately 25% of the spots. The social networking site ¡§Facebook¡¨ is particularly notable because although it was the first time it entered the rankings, Facebook placed second. Virtual community websites are this year¡¦s most popular type of website. Among 15 to 20 year-olds, network utilization ratios reached as high as 98.3% (BusinessNext, 2010). This majority of this age group studies in high school, and regardless of their course of study, interpersonal relationships, or physical and mental development, this age cohort has an inseparable connection to the Internet. Therefore, we call them the ¡§e-generation¡¨. This research utilizes the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) as its theoretical foundation; TAM predicts that a high-school student¡¦s loneliness will affect that student¡¦s use of virtual community websites. This study utilizes stratified sampling in questionnaire among 500 Kaohsiung high school students from the ages of 15 to 19, and the UCLA Loneliness Scale Version Three (Russell, 1996) is used in the survey to measure loneliness. Using this methodology, the hope is to confirm the hypothesis that the students¡¦ loneliness is positively linked to their participation in virtual communities. Using SPSS 15.0 for Windows and Amos 7.0 to analyze the survey data and conduct a path analysis for a casual relationship, loneliness has a strong influence on students¡¦ use of virtual community websites, which supports TAM as a theoretical construct. And aims at the different social group type website to implement the AMOS female community the coalition analysis. The data do not show a particular variance in usage among different types of virtual community websites. The implications of this research are helpful to the families, the military, and the managers of virtual community websites, who all benefit from a better understanding of high-school students participation in virtual communities.

The Web 2.0 concept brought up the trends of growing rapidly interactive websites which were based on the internet characteristics such as upload creations, member votes, and even the the exchange of the gifts. In a brief summery, all the incredible activities are growing mainly under the encouragement of the diversity and accumulation of the users¡¦ engagements. This study is based on the reference to the user experience and interface activities of kinds of popular Web2.0 websites. Also, through the 480 questionnaires samples and researches, this study tried to find the possible motivative activities and knowledge sharing models according to the users¡¦ motives, behaviors and self-gratification. Furthermore, this study also focused on the evaluation to the users¡¦ self-gratification after the extrinsic motivate rewards which were published to the general users. The study results appeared that when the virtual community platforms adopt different kinds of motivate rewards; the positive influence is always existed between the user motive and the outside motivation rewards. To particularly point out, the extrinsic rewards of praising in public and community usefulness has the highest correlation through the Pearson correlation analysis. Also, the outside motivate activities will affect the interactive behaviors between the users accordingly. On the personal characteristics observation, the ages and educations have significant differences to the users¡¦ motive. And the user experience of virtual community websites such as the quantities of accounts, frequency to visit the websites, and the average time of staying on the website have significant differences to user motives. And on the perspective of motivation and user behaviors, the results basically are similar with the theory of uses and gratification. There is above 50% samples pointed out that trust and identification are the important key factors on all the websites activities between users. Especially the human-human interaction is the most popular one during the research. To conclude all the research efforts, this study made a prior research on the new internet activities and provided some ideas on the correlations of the motive, behaviors and gratification on users¡¦ side. Through the concrete results hope may have the study bases for further market researches or much practical reference to the website business management.

This is a submission to the 3rd Annual Social Informatics SIG Research Symposium: The Social Web, Social Computing and the Social Analysis of Computing " Peer-to-peer systems allow the seamless sharing of digital materials between strangers who may live in different countries or different continents. As networks such as Kazaa and Gnutella shuffle files effortlessly over the Internet, national boundaries are visible only to those who bother to look up the IP addresses of the machines involved. In the eight years since the debut of Napster, a huge volume of legal, popular and scholarly attention has been paid to peer-to-peer file sharing. But despite the inherently global nature of these networks, very little of this attention has been devoted to use of these networks outside North America and Western Europe. I explore the cultural meanings of file sharing in Ukraine. Ukraine, the second most populous of the former Soviet republics, had been named as one of the ten â priority countriesâ with â unacceptable piracy rates.â IFPI and other industry and governmental bodies present piracy in straightforward terms as a crime, and emphasize links between music piracy and violent organized crime. The international struggle against piracy is seen as a matter of building a strong legal framework in developing countries and then making sure that local authorities enforce these laws. They assume that national development follows a linear path from the lawless frontier of unchecked piracy to the well policed copyright regime evidenced in the United States. In contrast, I argue that file-sharing practices in Ukraine reflect distinctive features of its cultural heritage. They are not simply the result of a primitive stage of legal development. Until 1991, Ukraine was part of the Soviet Union. The USSR did not recognize the concept of intellectual property, particularly as it related to foreign and scientific works. For example, generations of Soviet children grew up reading a popular story by Russian writer Aleksander Volkov. It told of a little girl from Kansas who was transported by a tornado with her dog Totoshka on a trip to visit a wizard. Even today, few realize that the work is a translation. Internally, however, Xerox machines were banned, and as dissident culture developed from the 1960s onward the illicit reproduction of unsanctioned material was seen as an heroic act of resistance. Manuscripts were photographed, retyped or copied long hand and passed from person to person in a practice known as samizdat. This was punishable by long terms in prison labor camps. As I pursued my own research on the use of file sharing technology in Ukraine, I started to wonder what the experience of seventy years of Soviet rule done to shape Ukrainian thinking on the issue of file sharing and music downloading. I began to realize that Ukrainian users had a quite different sense than their American comrades of the copyright issues involved, the relevance of communism to file sharing, and indeed the cultural meaning of file sharing technology within Ukrainian society. These, I argue, can only be understood through reference to their diverging historical experiences. Analysis of the discussion of copyright, piracy and Internet file sharing in the Ukrainian press and within the Ukrainian community website Muzon.com demonstrates that local attitudes and practices have been profoundly shaped by the Soviet experience. Todayâ s intellectual property environment reflects both Soviet cultureâ s lack of concern for the rights of individuals, businesses, and foreign government and the struggle of opposition and nationalist groups to freely distribute material outside the control of Soviet authorities. These two factors, while in many ways opposed, both influence Ukrainians to reject constraints on the free distribution of copyrighted materials. In addition, the efforts of Western businesses and governments to enforce their own copyright regimes on Ukraine trigger resentment in a nation that long suffered under the dictates of the Kremlin. File sharing enthusiasts often present themselves as members of an underground movement fighting â the rulers of the world corporationsâ and even a way to realize aspects of the communist utopia once promised to them. I show a number of technical and cultural similarities between the practices of Internet file sharing and those of Soviet samizdat, which I argue lead some Ukrainians to interpret the struggle against Western copyright as expression of political freedom and national identity. My findings suggest that scholars concerned with the use and social meaning of internet file sharing should not assume that a given technology or network will have the same meaning for users in all countries, but should be prepared to integrate their studies of information sharing behavior within a broader analysis of the social and national milieus in which they take place.

Report on a study tour of public library services in the US who are providing first class, cutting edge service to their virtual clients. The study tour was made possible by the award of a Ramsay Reid scholarship from the State Library of Victoria in 2006.

This study examines the dynamics of critical Internet culture after the medium opened to a broader audience in the mid 1990s. The core of the research consists of four case studies of non-profit networks: the Amsterdam community provider, The Digital City (DDS); the early years of the nettime mailinglist community; a history of the European new media arts network Syndicate; and an analysis of the streaming media network Xchange. The research describes the search for sustainable community network models in a climate of hyper growth and increased tensions and conflict concerning moderation and ownership of online communities.

Este trabalho tem por objetivo analisar a estruturação e a manutenção de uma comunidade virtual não-monetária - a Wikipédia lusófona , em consonância com os modelos organizacionais existentes. Com base em um norteamento teórico sobre algumas das mais influentes forças que atuam na sociedade, o trabalho segue de maneira qualitativa utilizando o método do estudo de caso, com o auxílio de observação, entrevistas e questionários como instrumentos de coleta e que foram aplicados aos integrantes e mantenedores da organização, de acordo com uma amostragem qualitativa. Os resultados obtidos indicam evidências de algumas teorias pré-concebidas e suas novas dimensões no contexto do ciberespaço. Há suposições da existência de um opinião pública interna que pode influir no sistema político tradicional. É possível observar uma relação de trocas entre o trabalho do membro da comunidade por necessidades pessoais. Ainda, se sugere que há uma espécie de mercado nessa organização, apesar de não existir intermediação financeira. Outra característica remete ao fato dos membros da comunidade arcarem com os custos transacionais do projeto. Para concluir, se verifica que o trabalho que mantém a organização pode ser uma base para analisar todas os modelos organizacionais em um único feixe teórico. / The aim of this work is to analize the structure and maintance of a non-financial virtual community portuguese language Wikipedia -, in relation to the structure\'s organization already existed. Based on the theoretical direction on one of those most influenced strenghts over the society, the work follows a qualitative way, using the method of case study research, being helped by the observation, interviews and questionaries as collection tool that were applaied on the members and supporters of the organization founded on qualitative sample. The results obtained indicate some evidence of pre-concepted theories and their new dimension on the ciberspace context. It\'s supposed that the public opinion can influence on the tradicional politic system. It\'s possible to observe an exchanging relation between the work of the community member by the personal needs. Than it\'s suggested there is a specific market in this organization although there isn\'t a financial relation. Another caractheristic refers of the fact to the organization\'s members deal with project\'s transation costs.To conclude, it\'s observed that the work which supports the organization can be a base to analyse all the organizations models in a unique theoretical bundle.

This research is based on the assumption that social media sites – such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube – have changed the way in which memes (culturally transmitted ideas) are transmitted or spread. Qualitative research is used in this study, particularly a literature study that applies and weighs the theories against a purposive sample of selected film examples between 2009 and 2010, to answer the question: what is the relationship between social media sites and the spread of memes? To answer this question, the way in which social media aids the spread of memes is analysed. It is argued that social media has provided the most fertile environment for the replication of memes to date. Also analysed is the way in which social media sites are represented in films, as well as the ways in which the offline lives of the characters are affected by their social media profiles, specifically as depicted in films Julie & Julia (Ephron 2009), Trust (Schwimmer 2010), and Catfish (Joost & Schulman 2010). Lastly, it is argued that one can construct an entirely new persona, or merely experiment with different aspects of who you are, on social media sites. This online persona can be influenced by the memes one chooses to spread online. Naturally, all memes carry connotations, values and judgements. These memes collaborate with one’s profile and, thus, the connotations attached to the memes one shares are then associated with one’s online persona (profile). This research is deemed relevant, also in a South African context, because the spread of memes does not respect national or international boundaries. / Dissertation (MA)--University of Pretoria, 2014. / lk2014 / Visual Arts / MA / Unrestricted

La llegada de la era digital ha provocado grandes cambios en los medios de comunicación como el surgimiento de las narrativas transmedia, una forma de contar historias a través de múltiples plataformas donde se requiere la participación activa del usuario. El presente artículo analiza la experiencia transmedia de la serie Stranger Things (2016) y el impacto que tiene en los consumidores al ser un producto original de una plataforma streaming: Netflix. Es un estudio de carácter cualitativo y está basada en las entrevistas y encuestas a comunidades de consumidores de la serie, así como el análisis audiovisual de cada una de las extensiones de la serie. Los resultados demuestran que el factor nostalgia usado en la serie es fundamental para el éxito de la serie y para el surgimiento de la narrativa transmedia dentro de este. Además, la narrativa transmedia permite una interacción más cercana de la audiencia con la serie, así como la fidelización hacia estas extensiones transmediáticas y en consecuencia, la creación de distintas comunidades virtuales en donde los usuarios comparten y crean más contenido a partir de sus propias ideas. / The arrival of the digital era has brought about major changes in the media, such as the emergence of transmedia narratives, a way of telling stories through multiple platforms where active user participation is required. This article analyzes the transmedia experience of the Stranger Things series (2016) and the impact it has on consumers as an original product of a streaming platform: Netflix. The methodology used is qualitative in nature and is based on interviews and surveys of fans of the series, as well as individual analysis of each of the series' extensions. The results demonstrate that the nostalgia factor used in the series is fundamental for the success of the series and for the emergence of the transmedia narrative within it. In addition, the transmedia narrative allows a closer interaction of the audience with the series, as well as loyalty to these transmedia extensions and, consequently, the creation of different virtual communities where users share and create more content based on their own ideas. / Trabajo de investigación

The popularization of professional virtual communities (PVCs) as a platform for people to share experiences and knowledge has produced a paradox of convenience versus security. The desire to communicate results in disclosure where users experience ongoing professional and social interaction. Excessive disclosure and unsecured user security behavior in PVCs increase users’ vulnerability to technology threats. Nefarious entities frequently use PVCs such as LinkedIn to launch digital attacks. Hence, users are faced with a gamut of technology threats that may cause harm to professional and personal lives. Few studies, however, have examined users’ information security behavior and their motivation to engage in technology threat avoidance behavior in a PVC. This study tested a professional virtual community technology threat avoidance model empirically. The model was developed from the conceptualization of different aspects of the technology threat avoidance theory, social cognitive theory, and involvement theory through an integrated approach. This quantitative study employed a random sampling methodology. Prior to collecting data for the main study an expert panel review and a pilot study were conducted. A web-based survey designed with a 5-point Likert scale was distributed to 1285 LinkedIn members to gather self-reported data on users’ technology threat avoidance behavior. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and structural equation modeling (SEM) were used to analyze the data gathered from 380 respondents. The results of the data analysis revealed that perceived susceptibility, perceived severity, and information security knowledge sharing are strong predictors of avoidance motivation. Information security knowledge sharing had the most significant predicting effect on avoidance motivation in PVCs. Also, self-efficacy, group norms, and avoidance motivation all have a significant predicting effect on users’ information security avoidance behavior in PVCs. However, information security experience and safeguarding measure cost do not have a significant predicting effect on users’ information security avoidance motivation. This study makes significant contributions to the IS body of knowledge and has implications for practitioners and academics. This study offers a comprehensive model through the integration of behavioral and cognitive theories to better understand user information security behavior in PVCs. The model also identifies essential elements to motivate users to engage in technology threat avoidance behavior.