Title: Stimulating community building using mobile 2.0 technology

Authors: Licia Calvi, Greet Jans

Addresses: Centre for User Experience Research (CUO), IBBT/K.U.Leuven, Parkstraat 45 Bus 3605, Leuven, Belgium. ' Centre for User Experience Research (CUO), IBBT/K.U.Leuven, Parkstraat 45 Bus 3605, Leuven, Belgium

Abstract: Virtual or online content creation is no longer an external process done by software developers or professional new media players, but is more and more performed by ordinary people. In this paper, we focus on non-professional users to present how different categories of users get involved in the process of content sharing and creation within a city community. That only a few of them are interested in contributing to this community is nothing new in itself. Instead, we want to look at what is needed to encourage them to help us build up a virtual |replica| of the city using an ad hoc application, i.e., the A4MC³-application. To support them in achieving this goal, this mobile city device must have some iterative elements (like tags, ratings, comments, etc., which are also known as social features) that stimulate users to become active members of that particular community. By exploring which of these interactive elements are most suitable on mobile devices, we hope to define a framework to support users in generating content in a user-friendly way.

Keywords: web 2.0; mobile technology; online content creation; online content sharing; interactive social features; virtual cities; A4MC³-applications; Architecture for Mobile Community Content Creation; Hasselt; Belgium; iterative elements; mobile phones; cell phones; virtual communities; web based communities; online communities; economic consequences.

DOI: 10.1504/IJWBC.2010.030018

International Journal of Web Based Communities, 2010 Vol.6 No.1, pp.76 - 98

Published online: 03 Dec 2009 *

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