In cyberspace, communication and co-ordination are cheap, fast, and global.
With powerful new tools for interacting and organizing in the hands of millions of people worldwide,
what kinds of social spaces and groups are people creating?
How is the Internet changing our basic concepts of identity, self-governance, and community?
This wide-ranging book looks at virtual communities in cyberspace
and their relationship to communities in the physical world.
The roles of race, gender, power, economics, and ethics in cyberspace
are discussed by leading experts on the subject, and are grouped into four main sections:
• identity
• social order and control
• community structure and dynamics
• collective action
Communities in Cyberspace investigates how the idea of community is being
challenged and rewritten by the widespread use of online interaction.
This edited volume is an essential introduction to the landscape of social life in cyberspace.
It will appeal to academics, students and professionals,
and to those concerned about the changing relationship between information technology and society.
Contents
- Peter Kollock, Marc A. Smith. Communities in cyberspace. 1999
- Judith S. Donath. Identity and deception in the virtual community. 1999
- Byron Burkhalter. Reading race online: discovering racial identity in Usenet discussions. 1999
- Jodi O'Brien. Writing in the body: gender (re)production in online interaction. 1999
- Elizabeth Reid. Hierarchy and power: social control in cyberspace. 1999
- Anna DuVal Smith. Problems of conflict management in virtual communities. 1999
- Barry Wellman, Milena Gulia. Virtual communities as communities: Net surfers don't ride alone. 1999
- Marc A. Smith. Invisible crowds in cyberspace: mapping the social structure of the Usenet. 1999
- Peter Kollock. The economies of online cooperation: gifts and public goods in cyberspace. 1999
- Laura J. Gurak. The promise and the peril of social action in cyberspace: ethos, delivery, and the protests over MarketPlace and the Clipper chip. 1999
- Willard Uncapher. Electronic homesteading on the rural frontier: Big Sky Telegraph and its community. 1999
- Christopher Mele. Cyberspace and disadvantaged communities: the Internet as a tool for collective action. 1999