Virtual Community
Internet is bringing tremendous changes in our lives-it is changing the way we live, the way we work, and the way we interact with one another. Internet has made virtual community a new way of interaction where the speech of transferring information is supersonic (Akram et. al. 2005). The virtual community enable information to be transferred quickly with the aid of internet. Apparently, most businesses deploy virtual community; that is the social media platforms as a marketing strategy to create awareness about their services. However, the virtual community have certain implication to the business although in rare cases.
Virtual community is a phrase that receives distinct definitions from different scholars but all of them seem the same only that it is the language that differs. For instance, (Kardas, 2000) define virtual community as a group of people who interact with each other through communication using electronic devices using the internet. In another definition, Preece describes a virtual community as a community consisting of people who interact socially with a common purpose and follow specific policies by use of computer system to facilitate social interaction and bring a sense of togetherness.
From all the definitions, the point of being a part of the virtual community is to facilitate communication within a specific business model or a particular group of people. Nonetheless different virtual communities can be well defined by the people that make up the group or the intended purpose of creating the virtual community. Therefore, there can be unlimited list of virtual community platform depending on the reason the potential members started the group.
In a nutshell, virtual community offers web based solutions to businesses by helping businesses to grow exponentially with the integration of their systems where customers engage with the staff, build relationships, and find solutions for the problems within the shortest time possible. As much as much managing the elements of virtual community including people, hardware and software might seem difficult, the business is required to set up a stable information system infrastructure that offers that meets the credentials of controlling the large group.
According to Barber (2001, p. 45), technology mirrors the modern society based on its democracy, civil structure, and the education of the people in a given country. However, nowadays people require open systems that are dynamic and those that embrace internal and external relationship of people in their communities.
A virtual community may take the following communication architecture in the verge of facilitating togetherness over the web. When a business has an understanding on one of this architecture it is able to design a virtual community that suits its members.
First, one-to-one social communication is a virtual community that has a host and a member. This kind of relationship happens between to people hence it is simple, direct and easy for us to understand. More especially, such a virtual community is described to have a closed system such that it is a one-way communication at a specific time. In this case, the host or member can directly interact in one-way, either vertical or horizontal hence this approach might not be the best for businesses because it creates non-interactive relationship in a computer supported environment.
Another type of virtual community can be one-to-many communication. This type of virtual community platform allows the host to share information to many people randomly or simultaneously to all members of a group. Usually, it is a closed system and members are required to submit registration credentials so that they are put in the mailing list in the database of the host. Therefore, communication is vertical and in this matter if the customer wants to send feedback to the organization, a many to one communication starts. Thus, this approach can be either one-way or two way depending on the source of information. Notably, this approach is less interactive since the administrator has total control over the communication taking place hence can filter the information within the group.
In another instance, many to many communication is a virtual community that integrates many groups together with common interest and purpose. It is one of the best architecture that solves market fragmentation and people from various regions and groups come together to share their views. This architecture has been the most effective for businesses and is the most ideal way businesses can build their relationship with their customers for not only a large fragmented market but also for those vendors who seek to reach the customers in the same market.
While there is a lot of business dynamics in business today, there are many groups that are formed in the internet. Since people interacting in those groups have been grounded on different cultures and ethnic values, it is important to learn how to handle various groups of people regardless of their cultural norms so that you manage the communication channel to gain support and recognition from other members within the community.
Peer-to-peer communication is an online community that is designed specifically for peers. It is a market-driven community that enables communication between peers within a communication network. According to Tech Encyclopedia (2001), a peer to peer is a communication network that allows computers within a network to share and communicate mutually with all other members within a network. This virtual community has total control by its members. The community is dynamic and susceptible to openness in terms of exchanging information or facilitating information within a network. Therefore, this is the largest community that embraces both one-to-one communication and one-to-many communication. However, the implication of this network is that the security level is low, lack of privacy, and trust among the various groups existing in this virtual community. In this case, members have less protection to cybercrime because there are no rules or regulations to protect them as compared to real space. Actually, it is a virtual community that is self-governing and there is no consequential authority that has a mandate to exercise its power over the group.
As time progress we expect a revolutionary in virtual community because businesses are adopting virtual community systems that suits their businesses so that they gain a competitive edge within the real space market and the online environment. According to Molitor (2001, p. 35) the five forces that are transforming the electronic community include but not limited to: optical transmission, satellite communication, wireless and mobile communication, broadband digital technology, and internet resources.
Most organizations are adopting virtual community by picking the best model which suites their business model. More often than not, companies acquire virtual community models that are dynamic and more flexible. In this case, the peer-to-peer communication is the model that is adopted by most companies because is more flexible and communication comes from either side of the group, that is, the members or the host.
Basically, there are five tools that are necessary for an organization to come up with an online community. According to Kardaras 2003 building a virtual community requires the following tools: people, policies, purpose, content, and computer network.
People are important participants in a virtual community. An active virtual group is required to have participants contribute on regular basis and help the organization to stimulate discussions and learning. Therefore, when designing a virtual community, organizations ensure the virtual community will be appealing to the users such that there will be mutual communication and the relevance of the group should be outlined. According to Virtual community… (2003), online discussion forms a basis of a virtual community because it ensures constant flow of information.
The purpose of establishing the virtual community is an important tool organizations consider. A community is created to serve a particular need or help to offer a business solution. As the community grows, it is more concerned with how they influence the external environment Rana et.al 2005). Therefore, the purpose of forming the community should be explicit and well=known by all members joining the virtual community.
Computer network offers a platform through which different groups in the virtual community interact. Some of the mechanism that computer networks facilitate virtual community is through online discussion forums, group emails, sharing newsletters, and newsgroups. Although communication is difficult to maintain especially in a distributed environment, this can be possible by diversifying and use of various information communication infrastructure to optimum.
Content is the last aspect that is a great builder on a virtual community. The content displayed on the webpage should be relevant, useful, and directed to satisfy the needs and interests of the community.
The benefits or virtual community are incredible. It should be noted that virtual communities provide opportunities to not only their members but also to the host organizations from various dimensions. The following are some of the benefits of virtual community:
In a virtual community form the barriers of communication are broken. Virtual community brings a linkage or builds relationships between people of various groups are from different geographical location and brings them together by creating online social space everyone regardless of where you are located (Kimball and Rheingold 2000). Also, virtual community is cost effective as information can be dispatched to many people at once without necessarily organizing meeting and transport costs in the urge of passing information. Here, instead of organizations organizing workshops, conference, and training courses, the same goals are achieved by linking all the required group to an online portal to get the information from the comfort of their respective locations.
Also, virtual communities facilitate knowledge sharing and learning. Research shows that virtual community promote sharing and learning by using of the criteria like companies are using virtual communities to make training a continuous process, such that people work as they receive training by attending online seminars. In another instance, virtual community have facilitated innovation because when group think come to play, people reason beyond problem solving and start inventing (Virtual communities…2003). Also, a company can gain recognition by interacting positively with its partners and sponsors. In this case, a virtual community can help a company to reduce social friction and enhance social cohesion.
The implication for organizations engaging in virtual communities is that the companies cannot control the information that is trending in the online platforms but rather they can give feedback or react on the information whether good or bad to suppress the future risk of losing customers because they are users of the online community. Easley (n.d.) believes it is necessary for companies to be keen and keep watching what is spoken about the in online platforms. The criteria can work when the company is engaged with other competitors in the same virtual community. According to Lueg (2001) he agrees that companies can prevent bad-mouthing by establishing communication with online communities.
In conclusion, electronic network forms the basis of virtual community. Virtual communities consist of people who share a common goal hence the freely share information over the internet. Nowadays, organizations are using virtual community as the core means of communicating because it`s is convenient and easy to use and its speed is quick. For this case, virtual communities are part of the information economy and should the recognized for the changes it has brought along in our economy. However, the implication of virtual community to organizations is that they cannot control the information disseminated about their product in the virtual community but they can source information about what people are talking about their products and services and they strive to improve their reputation by participating in online communities.
References
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Akram, A., Allan, R., & Rana, O. (2005). Virtual Communities and Community Coordinator. 2005 First International Conference on Semantics, Knowledge and Grid. doi:10.1109/skg.2005.141
Barber, B. R. (2001). The uncertainty of digital politics. Harvard Int’l Review, 23(1), 42-47.
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https://www.arraydev.com/commerce/jim/0203-04.htm. (Accessed April 2017).
Kardaras, D. 2003. The potential of virtual communities in the insurance industry in the UK and Greece. International Journal of Information Management 23:45-53.
Kimball, L. and Rheingold, H. 2000. How online social networks benefit organisations. [Online]. Available WWW:
https://www.rheingold.com/Associates/onlinenetworks.html. (Accessed 27 September 2003).
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