One of the foundations of my dissertation was an analysis of virtual communities and the theories concerning information behavior and exchange within them. This post from the Church of the Customer Blog was most interesting:
http://www.churchofthecustomer.com/blog/2007/12/the-4-types-of.html
The authors identify four types of communities online:
Clique
Network
Cult
Nation
Where does the Biblioblogosphere fit in? I’ve always called it a “Community of Practice” after the work of Henri & Pudelko, who presented a concise, useful typology for virtual communities back in 2003, comprised of four distinct categories and descriptions of the exchanges that occur within them:
Community of interest – Information exchange about a topic
Goal-oriented community of interest – Sharing of diverse perspectives and production of objects commissioned by the mandate.
Learner’s community – Participation to the realization of a collective educational project.
Community of practice – Professional practice development through sharing knowledge among members of a professional community
What community do you want to create? What communities are you a part of?