Virtuality:
A fertile and prosperous
research field
Niki Panteli
[email protected]
Centre for
Information
Management
Virtuality: Current Trends
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Emergence of New Technologies; Web 2.0
New public discourse: Social Networking
Sites
Research is rapidly moving to new
terittories
Excitement; Anxieties TOO!
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Information
Management
Aim of the Paper:
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To position the current enthusiasm on and
research interest in virtual social networks
within the wider virtuality literature and
identify inter-dependencies.
Centre for
Information
Management
Multiplayer
LEVELS OF VIRTUALITY RESEARCH
User Interactions
Virtual Social Networks
Online Communities
Beyond
SinglePlayer
Virtual Teams &
Organizations
Organizations
Within
CMC
Widespread
Limited
Technology Availability
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Information
Management
Level 1:
Computer-Mediated Communication
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Use/Impact of specific CMC, e.g. email,
videoconferencing, IM
Comparative studies on different CMC;
CMC vs f2f
Emphasis on media richness
Appreciation of social construction of
communication media
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Management
Level 2:
Virtual Teams and Virtual Organizations
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Interactions at the team and organizational
levels
Appreciation of the challenges involved in virtual
team collaborations
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Trust; conflict
Awareness of the importance of soft human
factors in virtual behaviour
Need to develop strategies for managing virtually
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Information
Management
Level 3:
Virtual Communities
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Research on the formation, development and
sustainability of communities within the virtual
environment.
Based on common interest
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Trust, identity, deception
Insights into the development of communities in
unknown virtual spaces; for both social and
professional relationships
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Management
Level 4:
Virtual Social Networks
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Multi-mediated; Massive; Multi-player sites
Social Networking sites, but not only
‘Rule of the Game’ change
Role and Impact of Commercialization and
Commodification of VSNs (Kreps and Pearson,
2008)
Privacy and data protection; ethical
considerations
Social Inclusion/Exclusion; Winners vs Losers
Heterogeneity of VSNs
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Final Thoughts
LEVELS OF VIRTUALITY RESEARCH:
• Coherence and Synergy
• Equal importance
• Virtuality as Prosperous
Research Field
User Interactions
• Inter-dependencies
Virtual Social Networks
Online Communities
Virtual Teams &
Organizations
CMC
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Information
Management