Title: Social interaction in virtual communities: the significance of technology

Authors: Daniel Skog

Addresses: Department of Informatics, Umea University, S 901 87 Umea, Sweden

Abstract: In this paper, it is argued that supporting technology influences the way interaction occurs in a virtual community. The empirical part of the study comprises interviews with visitors at LunarStorm, the most popular online community among young people in Sweden. The study highlights a specific feature within the software environment of LunarStorm and the empirical data show that this feature strongly influences community life. Based on these findings it is argued that there is a need for further studies that aim for increasing the knowledge about the role of the technology.

Keywords: virtual communities; community development; community design; social interaction; technology.

DOI: 10.1504/IJWBC.2005.008111

International Journal of Web Based Communities, 2005 Vol.1 No.4, pp.464 - 474

Published online: 16 Nov 2005 *

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