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Monique Janneck, Matthias Finck, Horst Oberquelle
Social Identity as an Agent of Technology-Use Mediation in Virtual Communities
The mere introduction of a software system does not automatically lead to its – let alone satisfactory – use. Appropriation of information technology by a group of users is a dynamic process, which should ideally be explicitly moderated in a process usually termed as technology-use mediation. In this paper we present two case studies of selforganized webbased communities that adopted technological support for coordination and communication. We identify characteristics of the processes of technology appropriation in this setting, key actors, and crucial issues for success or failure of such communities. Results show that all phases and activities of technology appropriation are dominated by mostly unsolicited efforts of individual community members. Drawing on the 'classical′ social psychological approach of social identity as a new view on webbased communities, we show that the development of a common identity among members is a crucial agent of technology appropriation in selforganized communities. We conclude our article by suggesting implications for the mediation of self-organized webbased communities, which can be derived from our case studies.
i-com, Oldenbourg Wissenschaftsverlag
Print ISSN: 1618-162X
Volume: 04, 02/2005
Pages: 022 - 028