A Typology of Virtual Communities:

A Multi-Disciplinary Foundation for Future Research

Constance Elise Porter


University of Notre Dame

Abstract

Despite the growing popularity of virtual communities, there is no
consensus among researchers regarding the appropriate definition or
types of virtual communities. 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. The central objective of developing this typology
was to develop a classification system that would be useful to
researchers from various disciplinary perspectives such that the
classification system might be used as a foundation for theory
construction. The proposed typology serves its intended purposes and is
evaluated against criteria put forth by Hunt (1991). The proposed
typology uses establishment type and relationship orientation as the
key categorization variables, reconciling problems posed by other
researchers who attempt to use attributes as categorization variables.
It is simple, pragmatic for practitioners and useful for researchers
seeking to develop an understanding of the virtual community phenomenon.

http://www.ascusc.org/jcmc/vol10/issue1