TRENDS AND ISSUES IN VIRTUAL COMMUNITIES 1

Trends and Issues in Virtual Communities

Mary Abernathy

University of North Carolina at Greensboro

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Abstract

This paper is about the trends and issues in virtual communities. This topic is examined

by defining a virtual community, examining the authors experience with social media and

virtual communities, and exploring the ways in which others use social media. Furthermore, an

overview of the history of social media is provided along with the pros and cons that exist within

virtual community platforms. Two examples of the effective use of virtual communities by

libraries are provided by looking at the Facebook page of the Seattle Public Library and

examining a program done by the Huntsville-Madison County Public Library using Goodreads.

Finally, some conclusions are provided regarding how and why libraries should embrace and use

virtual communities in the future.

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Trends and Issues in Virtual Communities

Introduction

In examining the trends and issues surrounding virtual communities, it is first necessary

to define what constitutes a virtual community. In her article A Typology of Virtual

Communities: A Multi-Disciplinary Foundation for Future Research, Porter examines past

efforts to define virtual communities and creates a typology helpful for further research efforts.

She writes, In this paper, a virtual community is defined as an aggregation of individuals or

business partners who interact around a shared interest, where the interaction is at least partially

supported and/or mediated by technology and guided by some protocols or norms (Porter,

2004). From this definition and The Five Ps of Virtual Communities (purpose, place, platform,

population, and profit model), we can identify virtual communities and then further examine the

trends and issues that exist in those communities (Porter, 2004).

My personal experience with virtual communities began in earnest when I worked in an

academic library at a large university around 2006. At first, I was introduced to blogs as a

method of communication. Initially, I worked in small branch library that was staffed by

paraprofessionals and librarians during the day and solely by students in the evenings and on

weekends. An internal blog served as a communication tool between all of those staff groups. It

could be accessed by anyone on duty at any hour and was helpful in sharing information more

broadly and concisely than email alone. That was the first time I remember using a digital

platform outside of email for the purposes of communication.

In 2008, I reluctantly joined Facebook. I was only vaguely familiar with it and thought of

the website as something geared only toward connecting college students to each other.
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However, as an academic library interested in connecting with the student population, it was not

long before our organization had a Facebook presence and it became relevant to my work to be a

part of it. I still remember the day I joined, because it was hard for me to believe how quickly my

personal network grew. Once I added a few co-workers, or vice-versa, I had several more work

colleagues adding me within hours. Even more surprising to me at the time, however, was how

many personal friends (from a variety of life stages) found me within a couple days. I was

shocked. I appreciated then, and continue to today, the ease with which I could connect with

personal and work friends. However, my concerns about privacy and maintaining different types

of relationships within one personal account on social media continue to be a struggle for me

today. My presence and knowledge of social media platforms is growing exponentially through

this course and I expect that search for balance will continue.

Outside of Facebook, I would consider my time in the Library and Information Studies

(LIS) distance program to be the most substantial in terms of my participation in a virtual

community. I have had presences on other platforms (i.e. Pinterest and Goodreads), but they

have been more tools for me to save information I found interesting than methods of connecting

with others. The LIS program, on the other hand, has provided a richer community for me by

encouraging engagement with others. This engagement has happened through discussion boards,

in-class discussions (via text chat, on-camera, or voice exchanges), and other exercises. It has by-

far been the most in-depth virtual community in which I have participated, due to the focused

nature of the content and the level of discourse required.

A recent inquiry on Facebook to my friends and family about social media and

community revealed a few ways in which they use the platform. Responses ranged from using

Facebook to organize a high school reunion to sharing in loved ones life events to finding
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support from others (i.e. parenting and church groups) to getting professional development ideas

from like-minded individuals and groups. As I wrote on a class discussion board, What

resonated with me is the deeper a connection, the more benefit the user sees. No one mentioned

just scanning their Facebook feed, but rather the ways in which they use the platform to engage

with smaller groups within their interest areas (Abernathy, 2017). From these limited results, it

appears an effective virtual community is one that provides a platform for meaningful

relationship between its members.

Trends and Issues

With the rapid explosion of social media platforms since 2000, it would be easy to think

that virtual communities are a relatively new phenomenon. However, a look back at the history

of social media provides a different picture.

History of Social Media

Created in the late 1970s, the Bulletin Board System (BBS) provided a platform for users

to communicate via code and downloads. Digital Trends Staff describes it this way, Accessed

over telephone lines via a modem, BBSes were often run by hobbyists who carefully nurtured the

social aspects and interest-specific nature of their projects which, more often than not in those

early days of computers, was technology-related (Digital Trends Staff, 2016). Around the same

time, CompuServe moved into the public domain and broadened the abilities of these fledgling

networks to allow for direct interaction between users (Digital Trends Staff, 2016). With the

popularity of those platforms and new ones (i.e. AOL) growing, rapid growth occurred into the

1990s. As Digital Trends explains, Yet there was no stopping the real Internet, and by the mid-

1990s it was moving full bore. Yahoo had just set up shop, Amazon had just begun selling
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books, and the race to get a PC in every household was on (Digital Trends Staff, 2016). With

the establishment and growth of virtual communities, social networking sites in and of

themselves began in earnest in 2002 with Friendster, followed by LinkedIn and MySpace in

2003, then Facebook in 2004 (Digital Trends Staff, 2016). As these, and countless other,

platforms have developed and grown so do the issues surrounding their use. Just like individuals

and businesses strive to maximize the benefits of these platforms in their lives, libraries also

must continue to evaluate how best to leverage these tools to connect with users and meet their

information needs.

Pros and Cons of Social Media

Social media platforms and virtual communities allow for unprecedented access to

people, ideas, information, and discourse. They do this while eliminating barriers that would

have previously been unsurmountable, such as time and distance. Different platforms have

different benefits. Twitter, for example, is a fast-paced platform great for broadcasting to a large

audience quickly. Facebook, on the other hand, allows for more in-depth exchanges, if desired,

through longer postings and back-and-forth comments. Online platforms for education, including

WebEx, allow for instruction to happen either synchronously or asynchronously. Outside of

instruction in WebEx, there are discussion boards for conversations to happen, as well.

The field of online learning provides an interesting context from which to examine virtual

communities. There appears to be a recognition that face-to-face learning is highly desirable, but

the convenience of virtual communities often outweighs that preference. In addressing this,

Chow writes, Convenience and accessibility continue to be the primary factors driving student

preference for online learning despite the recognition from both students and faculty that real-
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time would lead to higher quality learning (Chow, 2013, p. 11). Convenience and accessibility,

that sums up two of the major benefits of virtual communities in general. Synchronous sessions,

in particular, can do a lot to overcome the perceived disadvantages of online learning. While they

cannot replace face-to-face interaction in a classroom setting, they do allow for a more dynamic

conversation when all participants are online at the same time. Even when on-camera interaction

does not occur, there are text chat and voice options for engaging in conversation. Being present

at the same time can mitigate some of the distance often felt in online learning environments.

Asynchronous learning experiences can also be beneficial and some subjects may be better

suited for that environment, particularly those that require absorbing material more than

discussing it. Chow address the differences between preferences for synchronous and

asynchronous learning and notes As mentioned earlier, however, the ideal way to meet the

learner needs of a diverse set of students is to offer both and let them choose (Chow, 2013, p.

11). Providing options to meet users needs is important for all virtual communities and is a

natural fit with libraries which strive to meet users where they are to provide for their

information needs.

Libraries Successfully Using Virtual Communities

Many libraries have a presence on social media. Some of these pages are highly visible,

actively engaged, and provide information about specific events as well as other information that

is interesting to their users. One example is the Seattle Public Librarys Facebook page. A recent

look at their page revealed that more than 47,000 people like the page and over 52,000 have

checked in there on Facebook. In addition to promoting events at the library, there were

articles posted on how libraries help people overcome loneliness, lists of the best graphic novels,

and advocacy for net neutrality (The Seattle Public Library, n.d.) The posts were liked,
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commented on, and shared. Their Facebook page seems to be an engaged virtual community.

Another feature of their page that spells success is the links they provide to their other social

media platforms (i.e. Twitter and Instagram). Not only do they provide a space for users to

interact on Facebook, they provide links to other platforms should users seek different content or

prefer to interact with the library or others on a different platform. They are striving to meet their

users in a variety of ways.

Another example of a library using social media well is the Huntsville-Madison County

Public Library (HMCPL) System in Alabama. They created programming around the website

Goodreads, which among other things allows users to create profiles, save books to virtual

bookshelves, find new books of interest, and interact with other users and even authors

themselves (Hooper, 2014). By leveraging the material and platform available on Goodreads, the

staff at HMCPL created a book club which challenged users to read at least fifty-two books in a

year, which was aptly named Mega Marathon because 52 weeks in a year equals two 26-week

marathons (Hooper, 2014). There were specific parameters regarding participation, moderation,

and reading level, all of which staff were able to set up through the Goodreads platform (Hooper,

2014). The program was very successful and Hooper details some of the reasons why by stating

Throughout the year, our main goal was to keep the reading group active. The moderators

added ice breaker questions, polls, and other book/reading-related questions to start

conversations about books or literary themes and also to gain background information on the

participants, including how they heard about the group, what types of books they read, and if

they prefer books to ebooks (Hooper, 2014). Again, the level of engagement appears to be

directly proportional to the success of this exercise with social media.

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In his article 10 Golden Rules to Take Your Librarys Twitter Account to the Next

Level, Potter provides sage wisdom that applies beyond Twitter to all social media accounts. He

writes, In an ideal world, a rule of thumb to aspire to is one in four tweets are broadcasts, the

other three being replies, RTs, or links to third-party content which is potentially useful to your

followers but not necessarily directly related to your library (Potter, 2013). Both the Seattle

Public Librarys Facebook page and the Goodreads example from the HMCPL followed this

one-in-four rule by including other dynamic content with their information about library events.

Future Trends and Potential Use for Libraries

The potential for libraries to engage with users via social media and virtual communities

is as limitless as the staffs creativity and resources. There are numerous examples of this being

done well and creatively through a number of platforms. One area that is worth further

examination by library staff is the use of virtual communities between libraries. In discussing

potential benefits of Second Life in 2012, Chow discusses this possibility for libraries in the

virtual realm. Virtual worlds also serve as a nexus point for many librarians who can meet peers

from across the country and around the world to share experiences, learn from each other, and

for general camaraderie (Chow et al., 2012, p. 479). While Second Life is not widely used by

the general public today, this application of a virtual community could still be very relevant.

As far as using virtual communities to engage with library users, we can see from the past

that the only constant will be change. Librarians will need to continue to adapt and learn new

technologies. Of the importance in keeping up with change, Chow notes, Such librarian

pioneers feel that the knowledge they are gaining now regarding virtual worlds will enable them

to leverage the medium to meet the needs of current and potential patrons (Chow et al., 2012, p.
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479). Realizing this, the trends in virtual communities will be less about the platforms

themselves and more about adapting to various platforms in order to connect with users.

Conclusion and Recommendations

Virtual communities and social media have changed the way we interact with the world,

each other, and information. Librarians, as members of a profession concerned with connecting

people to quality information, naturally need to pay attention to and engage users via virtual

communities. To do so effectively, however, requires intention, mindfulness, and the appropriate

resources. As Malczewski writes, While the spirit of social media is casual, spontaneous, and

whimsical, the method behind the message is anything but. While we (myself included) may

have once scoffed at the notion of managerial positions being created to oversee the organization

of social network efforts, the truth is, virtual fronts must be constituted with the same structure

and vision that physical ones are (Malczewski, 2013). Making the case for resources may be

one of the most challenging aspects of virtual communities for libraries and their parent

organizations, but it will be critical to do so.

As stated in the State of Americas Libraries report for 2017, Digital citizenship,

another concept born out of todays high-tech society, continues to be an area where youth

services staff work with children and their families. Cyberbullying, digital footprints, and digital

literacy are issues that affect young digital natives as well as their digital-immigrant parents.

Libraries continue to step up programming to prepare all family members to become safe,

responsible, and effective stewards of the online world (Rosa, 2017, p. 12). By continuing to

learn, embrace, and leverage virtual communities and their technologies, librarians will be well-

placed to help future generations be effective digital citizens.

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References

Abernathy, M. (2017, June 27). Week 1 Discussion. Retrieved from

https://uncg.instructure.com/courses/30896/assignments/263442/submissions/88952

Chow, A. S. (2013). Synchronous and asynchronous interaction: Access, convenience, and

content. In A. Sigal (Ed.), Advancing Library Education: Technological Innovation and

Instructional Design. IGI Global. Retrieved from http://services.igi-

global.com/resolvedoi/resolve.aspx?doi=10.4018/978-1-4666-3688-0

Chow, A. S., Baity, C. C., Zamarripa, M., Chappell, P., Rachlin, D., & Vinson, C. (2012). The

Information Needs of Virtual Users: A Study of Second Life Libraries. Library

Quarterly, 82(4), 477510.

Digital Trends Staff. (2016). The history of social networking. Digital Trends. Retrieved from

https://www.digitaltrends.com/features/the-history-of-social-networking/

Hooper, R. (2014). Using Goodreads in adult programming: A case study. Tennessee Libraries,

64(3).

Malczewski, B. (2013). Why social media isnt working for your library. Public Libraries

Online. Retrieved from http://publiclibrariesonline.org/2013/05/why-social-media-isnt-

working-for-your-library/

Porter, C. E. (2004). A Typology of Virtual Communities: A Multi-Disciplinary Foundation for

Future Research. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 10(1), 0000.

https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1083-6101.2004.tb00228.x

Potter, N. (2013). 10 golden rules to take your librarys Twitter account to the next level. Library

Journal. Retrieved from http://lj.libraryjournal.com/2013/08/marketing/10-golden-rules-

to-take-your-librarys-twitter-account-to-the-next-level/
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Rosa, K. S. (2017). THE STATE OF AMERICAS LIBRARIES 2017. American Libraries, 48,

25.

The Seattle Public Library. (n.d.). Retrieved July 16, 2017, from

https://www.facebook.com/SeattlePublicLibrary/