Virtual Communities!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Definition:

Virtual Communities is a group of people with similar interest who communicate and interact in an online environment.

Some web communities operate only relating to a certain topic or objective.

We have three rules for virtual communities which are as follow:

First Rule:

You are dealing with real people, this rule is sometimes lost in the pursuit of good design or community objectives.

Second Rule:
Make it easy for people to contribute to the community.

Third Rule:

Give people something interesting to respond to. People wont comment if theres no topic, wont get excited about press releases and you have to express a point of view.

An Overview.

When developers and users see that they will get more from the virtual community than they give, the community starts to expand quickly. The role of the main developers team is very important.
Virtual community grows from the genuine need to work for the community, has to fit the individuals objectives.

In time members of the community will find resources that they can use to the benefit of the virtual community and also benefit from that so its a win to win situation.

We also have Brand Communities which are Networks of customer relationships which built on context and relevance of content.Its mutual responsibility. Traditionally connected through mass media.

A few elements of Brand Community:

• Its legitimacy
• Celebrate brand history
• Share brand stories
• Get new users to join
• Exchange

Some examples of Brand communities such as:

Harley Davidson - Harley Owners Group,

Jeep - Camp Jeep,

Oracle - Oracle Open World,

Dewalt - Contractor's Night.

As Muniz and O'Guinn say (2001) "Brand communities represent a form of human association situated with a consumption context".