Emergent Communities

a bid to ISWorld Net by:
Department Editor: George R. Widmeyer

Research Topics

Conference of the Future (by Mandviwalla)

Electronic Communities

Learning Communities and Information Technology

Virtual Organization (by Sieber)

Virtual Societies (by Kling)

Virtual Systems (by Ives)

Wide Area Communities and Information Systems

Erik Stotlerman, et al., of Umeå University are conducting a study on the rise of virtual communities. Please see their site.

Virtual Community Study (by Stolterman)

Participation

The above list of topics is intended to be representative, more subject areas are needed. We are open to your ideas and suggestions. Please send your comments to the editor. We have also created a mailing list using an X.500 directory - not a listserver. If you would like to join the list, then please send a message to the Department Editor.

Eleanor Wynn has agreed to let the department editor post two questions from her. Please read them and if you would like you can respond.

Two Questions (from Wynn)

Erik Stotlerman has agreed to let the department editor post a small question from him. Please read it and if you would like you can respond.

Definition

This department assists you in accessing research on the theory and practice of information systems that is specifically related to the topic of emergent communities. Let me provide an initial description of this topic and request your comments.

Deliberate communities arise from a top-down effort to bring people together in teams that are designed for a specific purpose (i.e., being goal-oriented). On the other hand, emergent communities arise as a result of the interaction of people who share a common interest. Usenet news groups often have people who show a remarkable degree of familiarity and shared history even though the group members have never met. Certainly, they have not be assigned to participate in the particular news group that they regularly post to. The community emerges as if by design but there is no deliberate design effort. What are the characteristics of such communities? What are the problems and opportunities that should be anticipated with respect to the emergence of community?

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Emergent Communities

Thanks for visiting. If you have any suggestions for improvement, we'd like to hear from you. This page is maintained by George R. Widmeyer who can be reached at the email address widmeyer@umich.edu.

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