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Virtuality: A fertile and prosperous research field. Niki Panteli N.Panteli@bath.ac.uk. Virtuality: Current Trends. 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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Virtuality: A fertile and prosperous research field Niki Panteli N.Panteli@bath.ac.uk
Virtuality: Current Trends • Emergence of New Technologies; Web 2.0 • New public discourse: Social Networking Sites • Research is rapidly moving to new terittories • Excitement; Anxieties TOO!
Aim of the Paper: • To position the current enthusiasm on and research interest in virtual social networks within the wider virtuality literature and identify inter-dependencies.
LEVELS OF VIRTUALITY RESEARCH Multi-player Virtual Social Networks Online Communities Beyond Organizations User Interactions Within Virtual Teams & Organizations Single-Player CMC Widespread Limited Technology Availability
Level 1: Computer-Mediated Communication • 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
Level 2: Virtual Teams and Virtual Organizations • Interactions at the team and organizational levels • Appreciation of the challenges involved in virtual team collaborations • Trust; conflict • Awareness of the importance of soft human factors in virtual behaviour • Need to develop strategies for managing virtually
Level 3:Virtual Communities • Research on the formation, development and sustainability of communities within the virtual environment. • Based on common interest • Trust, identity, deception • Insights into the development of communities in unknown virtual spaces; for both social and professional relationships
Level 4: Virtual Social Networks • 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
Final Thoughts LEVELS OF VIRTUALITY RESEARCH: • Coherence and Synergy • Inter-dependencies • Equal importance • Virtuality as Prosperous • Research Field Virtual Social Networks User Interactions Online Communities Virtual Teams & Organizations CMC