The Impact of Social Types within Information Communities: Findings from Technical Newsgroups

We explored whether Fisher and Durrance’s [11] framework of information communities applies to online technical newsgroups and the impact of particular social types on information flow within digital economy. Data collection methods included content analysis of discussion threads from six technical newsgroups over an eighteen month period, along with focus groups, participant observation and interviews with key informants, and analysis of quantitative data obtained from Microsoft Research’s Netscan project. Findings support and expand the information communities framework. Four social types were identified: (1) members, (2) mentors, (3) managers and (4) moguls. Newsgroups facilitated social and information exchanges among individuals from diverse backgrounds, cultures, and geographic locations as they posted and replied to messages publicly available for viewing. The interaction of the social types within the communities thus fostered information flow as people solicited, disseminated and exchanged information on varied topics.