A framework to define web-based communities
Javier Vélez, Beatríz Barros, Felisa Verdejo · International Journal of Web Based Communities · 2006
Nowadays, web-based communities have become the best way to exploit capabilities of internet interaction. They allow users to keep in touch and thus offer multiple possibilities to coordinate a group of people with a common interest in working or learning about a common subject. Nevertheless, virtual communities, such as those that exist on the internet, are often rigid. In most cases they are designed as ad hoc projects with specific design requirements. But in order to create a virtual community, an accurate previous analysis should be undertaken. This analysis requires the consideration of three complementary aspects: the social structure of the community, the collaborative model specifying the requirements for working together and the behavioural model describing guidelines to achieve adaptiveness. This paper presents a theoretical framework that pays special attention to these aspects. It permits defining web-based communities in a straightforward way. Furthermore, the framework has been implemented as a web design-based tool in order to create declarative specifications that facilitate the integration into other web-based community projects.