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Openness as an asset: a classification system for online communities based on actor-network theory

Published: 07 July 2010 Publication History

Abstract

There exists a lack of consensus among scholars about the definition and categorization of technology-mediated communities. If these divergences hamper the possibility to devise a unique definition of online communities, some principia divisionis can nonetheless be found, in order to handle heterogeneity.
Drawing upon case studies selected from Ars Electronica's Digital Communities competition, this paper analyses the limits of the categorization variables traditionally used to classify online communities, and proposes a new classification system made of two variables measuring the "openness" of the community. The first variable enacts Actor-Network Theory's distinction between mediators and intermediaries, while the second considers the degree of openness of the regimes of access and visibility enabled by groupware architectures.
On-field evaluation of this classification system shows three advantages: since it is based on the abstract criterion "openness", it does not arbitrarily reduce the richness of the techno-social world, but rather allows researchers to cluster few types of online community. In addition, it is of some merit in tracking innovation in techno-social assemblages.

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Cited By

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  • (2018)Mining Governance Mechanisms: Innovation Policy, Practice, and Theory Facing Algorithmic Decision-MakingHandbook of Cyber-Development, Cyber-Democracy, and Cyber-Defense10.1007/978-3-319-09069-6_29(495-517)Online publication date: 6-Oct-2018
  • (2017)Collaborative Computer AlgebraApplications of Computer Algebra10.1007/978-3-319-56932-1_20(289-303)Online publication date: 27-Jul-2017
  • (2017)Mining Governance Mechanisms: Innovation Policy, Practice, and Theory Facing Algorithmic Decision-MakingHandbook of Cyber-Development, Cyber-Democracy, and Cyber-Defense10.1007/978-3-319-06091-0_29-1(1-23)Online publication date: 30-Mar-2017

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cover image ACM Other conferences
WikiSym '10: Proceedings of the 6th International Symposium on Wikis and Open Collaboration
July 2010
178 pages
ISBN:9781450300568
DOI:10.1145/1832772
Permission to make digital or hard copies of all or part of this work for personal or classroom use is granted without fee provided that copies are not made or distributed for profit or commercial advantage and that copies bear this notice and the full citation on the first page. Copyrights for components of this work owned by others than ACM must be honored. Abstracting with credit is permitted. To copy otherwise, or republish, to post on servers or to redistribute to lists, requires prior specific permission and/or a fee. Request permissions from [email protected]

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Published: 07 July 2010

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Author Tags

  1. ANT
  2. classification variables
  3. groupware architecture
  4. innovation
  5. membership
  6. open online communities
  7. textual account

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View all
  • (2018)Mining Governance Mechanisms: Innovation Policy, Practice, and Theory Facing Algorithmic Decision-MakingHandbook of Cyber-Development, Cyber-Democracy, and Cyber-Defense10.1007/978-3-319-09069-6_29(495-517)Online publication date: 6-Oct-2018
  • (2017)Collaborative Computer AlgebraApplications of Computer Algebra10.1007/978-3-319-56932-1_20(289-303)Online publication date: 27-Jul-2017
  • (2017)Mining Governance Mechanisms: Innovation Policy, Practice, and Theory Facing Algorithmic Decision-MakingHandbook of Cyber-Development, Cyber-Democracy, and Cyber-Defense10.1007/978-3-319-06091-0_29-1(1-23)Online publication date: 30-Mar-2017

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