Why are people attracted to communities?
Catherine Ridings and David Gefen found research in social
psychology that revealed peoples motivations to join non virtual communities.
Humans feel the need to belong, to be needed and build relationships with
others, communities are able to fulfill this role. Ridings and Gefen explain in
detail the benefits a community provides. “Because groups provide a source of
information and help in achieving goals, give rewards, and according to social identity
theory, people form a social identity of values, attitudes and behavioral
intentions from the perceived membership in distinct self-inclusive real or imagined
social groups. An individual's self-identity typically results from the membership in
a preexisting self-inclusive social group, including vocation and avocation.”
(2006). Based on these findings, we seek face-to-face groups for exchanging
information, reaching a goal, and to establish our own identity.
Exchanging information
People choose to join communities to access information from
other members, an online community thrives on member-generated content. The
content needs to be worth exchanging between members, and if there is
compelling content the community will be self-sustaining, more content created
by members draws more members who produce more content.
An online community is a great place to ask strangers or acquaintances
for useful information, with relationships between members focused mainly on information
exchange. Members are able to easily express views, provide and request
information, express feelings, and suggest solutions.
