1. Building Communities On The Web What Web 2.0 Has To Offer Presented by Geoffrey Kwitko Geoffrey.Kwitko@ShareScene.com Abbreviated online version

2. Its difficult to go a day without hearing something about Web 2.0 & Community In this months Virgin Blue Voyeur magazine: 2 page article on social networks a review on myspace jobs a review on a online chat community for executives On the in-flight tv screen 30 second commercial for LinkMe.com (social networking style job seeking site) Talking to the person next to me son in law using the Second Life virtual world as an avenue to sell digital fashion

3. Its about being part of something larger than just yourself Web 2.0 is all about removing the barriers to participation on the web

4. What is Web 2.0? What does it mean to us? Its about being part of something larger than just yourself… contributing and affecting the whole. Web 2.0 gives users the power to change not only their own internet experience, but contribute towards the experiences of others. Websites that embrace Web 2.0 include content from a large number of sources, and give visitors the power to modify, judge and comment. Everyone has been given the opportunity to become creators. Together we are building content and tools that are more relevant, more responsive, and more fun.

5. Web 2.0 brings together the collective intelligence of internet users on mass shift of power from authority to community

6. using the power of thousands of other users to filter the information overload SEE: Digg and Yahoo Buzz

7. Web 2.0 and Online Community Communities themselves have been an integral part of humanity since the beginning of recorded history. They are the fundamental unit of any social organism. There is a fast growing audience of people becoming more comfortable interacting together on the internet. Web 2.0 has spawned countless online communities over a remarkably diverse range of interests from astrology to zoology. Everyone has their own definition and experience of online community.

8. Recipe for community A group of people with a shared purpose, interest or goal (something they enjoy, something they have done, something they believe, something they are trying to find the answer to)

9. Recipe For Community A group of people with similar goals but an unwillingness to share will end in conflict and mayhem. For community to exist there must be a belief that there is benefit in association amongst this group. Community members gain a sense of personal validation from belonging. They are proud to be part of the group. Being a part of a larger whole evokes an emotional commitment to the communitys purpose and goals. When it comes to community there is a very thin line between cooperation and anarchy. A well run community is guided by community policies and social norms. Over time these community values become an inseparable part of the dynamics of the community.

10. small clusters of personal relationships form larger interconnected webs Cooperative relationships, teamwork and collaboration start to take form.

11. Is there really much of a separation between online and offline community?

12. Technology as a supporter of community For a community to become an online community there must be technology that supports their interaction. Technology dictates the style and form, limits it, mediates it. The virtual technology platform becomes the mandatory filter, the bridge between one member of the community to another. The choice of technology will determine the types of interaction - what can be shared, discussed, exchanged. The technology will also determine the dynamics of the interaction, how it feels to each member. This online environment is no less real than any other form of social interaction. Virtual no longer implies fake. A community being run through technology can definitely enhance aspects of community communication. On the other hand technology can severely constrain and restrict the group. Facial expressions, voice tone and general body language are replaced with emoticons and other more limited substitutes.

13. History of Online Community Technology

14. EMAIL designed to be a one to one form of communication by adding multiple email addresses as recipients, email can extended to create a primitive form of community LISTSERVE only needed to send to a single listserve email address the concept still lives on strongly today for example with Yahoo Groups and Google Groups. other extra features over email including daily digests USENET highly organised into categories and subcategories called newsgroups provided a mechanism to distribute larger files

15. History of Online Community Technology DIALUP BULLETIN BOARD SYSTEMS an amazing expression of community online extremely social, much more than the early internet many aspects of Web 2.0 in a 25 years old technology chat, share files, journal, discussion board IRC must be in the correct channel at the correct time to participate unless you have an organised, committed and reliable audience, live chat rooms often fail due to logistical difficulties often a very motivating and exhilarating experience the short, poorly phrased chats are often misinterpreted. SKYPECASTS a group of strangers talking by voice about an interest they share, with a moderator who passes around rights to the virtual microphone

16. History of Online Community Technology DISCUSSION FORUMS brought internet based discussion to the masses dont need any special software to be installed for members to take part there are countless other new moderation tools introduced into forums which make communities healthier and stronger. WIKIS forming a document that everyone can edit at the same time. wikis provide feedback and moderation tools to track who changed what text in each revision. BLOGS the blogosphere is highly connected and related, with information, recommendations, responses and comments being shared.

17. History of Online Community Technology MASSIVELY MULTIPLAYER ONLINE GAMES & VIRTUAL WORLDS These rich, complex, living worlds host hundreds of thousands of participants, playing and interacting with a world and others in it buying property and items, building and improving their character a range of lucrative business opportunities have arisen, with a new set of moral, social, legal and taxation issues social and health ramifications GROUPWARE combine business tools such as project management, document management, wikis, calendars, knowledge bases and discussion forums. ELEARNING SYSTEMS providing an learning/teaching environment for an online community not only host and organise learning materials, but more importantly as a new way to communicate, discuss and share as a group Live chat, bulletin boards, quizzes, editable glossaries etc

18. History of Online Community Technology FRIEND OF A FRIEND TECHNOLOGIES use behavioural information collected from other people like you to give you relevant recommendations. social networking sites can use FOAF technology for advertising SOCIAL NETWORKING the primary reason why social networks are so popular is NOT to network and meet new people used to keep in regular contact with existing friends. social networks essentially make being a caring friend an easier task. users can express their creativity and individuality by customising their profile page with information, colours, photos, music and applications. success driven out of psychological need for emotional reassurance can be linked to ego / self esteem. Stimulation can be addictive.

19. History of Online Community Technology CUSTOM TECHNOLOGY Web 2.0 community technology is getting more difficult to label completely custom creations design to solve a very specific problem well E.g. http://kuler.adobe.com/ colour sharing communityhttp://kuler.adobe.com/ using MVC frameworks like Ruby On Rails, cakePHP or Symfony OTHER INTERESTING ASPECTS social aggregators social recommendation systems google docs social bookmarking THE FUTURE richer multimedia collaboration (e.g. wikis for art/music/video) 3d actionscript flash virtual worlds (powered by papervision3d ?) virtual worlds integrating more with offline society

20. Interesting Links For Further Research http://www.flickr.com/http://www.flickr.com/ photo sharing community http://www.youtube.com/http://www.youtube.com/ video sharing community http://www.protagonize.com/http://www.protagonize.com/ collaborative fiction writing community http://www.sermo.com/http://www.sermo.com/ medical discussion community http://www.deviantart.comhttp://www.deviantart.com creative art sharing community http://www.last.fm/http://www.last.fm/ social networking through music interests http://www.ning.com/http://www.ning.com/ create your own social network http://www.caring.com/http://www.caring.com/ community for the support of the elderly http://moodle.org/http://moodle.org/ open source elearning system http://whirlpool.net.au/http://whirlpool.net.au/ Australian technology discussion community http://www.tangler.com/http://www.tangler.com/ create your own discussion community http://www.theadminzone.com/http://www.theadminzone.com/ information for community operators http://digg.com/http://digg.com/ user powered website recommendation tool http://www.womma.org/http://www.womma.org/ word of mouth association http://www.rheingold.com/texts/artonlinehost.html http://www.theadminzone.com/http://www.rheingold.com/texts/artonlinehost.html http://www.theadminzone.com/ resource for community operators