CHI 99 Online Communities Workshop: Elizabeth Mynatt

CHI 99 Online Communities Workshop
Position Paper

Elizabeth Mynatt

College of Computing
Graphics, Visualization and Usability Center
Georgia Institute of Technology
mynatt@cc.gatech.edu

Research Summary

Our research (I represent a group of five researchers) has focused on understanding the technical and social ingredients (and how these inter-relate) of successful network communities. We first began our work by looking for similarities between communities supported by MUDs or media space technologies. In our initial framework, we pointed to five affordances of network communities (persistence, periodicity, boundaries, engagement, and authoring) as well as three major design dimensions: supporting the rhythms of an online community, nurturing community development, and managing the real and virtual worlds. Following this work, we wanted to look at a new network community in detail, leading us to our investigation of SeniorNet.

SeniorNet (SN) is a 12 year old organization that attempts to bring seniors together via computer networking technologies. Currently they have nearly 20,000 members comprising thriving online communities on both AOL and the WWW. In our one year study we found what we expected (e.g. many prevailing rhythms of interaction, the role of the "real world" in grounding the community) as well as were initially surprised (e.g. the complicated responses to the category of "senior," the positive role of lurking, the ethos of civility that sharply contrasted with the rest of the Net, and the path that seniors followed in going on-line.)

Research Methodology

During our three years of work, we have principally used two research methodologies. In the first part, we reflected as a group on our diverse set of experiences as researchers, designers and members of network communities stemming from different settings (educational, recreational and workplace) and different technological bases (text-based and graphical MUDs, media spaces). These reflections resulted in our initial framework (Mynatt el al, 1998).

The SeniorNet project was a one year ethnographic study entailing observations and interviews across a variety of online and physical locations including interviewing staff members and community members, observing online activity, participating in chat (1 week) and our own sponsored forum within the SN sites, and observing face-to-face classes for learning to use computers sponsored by SN.

Future Directions for My Research

Background Awareness. Following our observations of SN, we would like to also conduct design interventions and then study those results. In particular, we are interested in the utility of techniques for providing background awareness of currently invisible activity and information in the virtual world, e.g. lurking.
Access to the NII. We are currently writing a policy-oriented paper regarding access issues for the Internet (or the NII) paying attention to the relevance and literacy requirements for successful online participation as well as the utility of "public" spaces that are minimally authored, but still supported by a sponsoring organization..

Other Important Issues for the Field

Fieldwork Methods. During our SN project, we struggled with many issues regarding our research methods. How can one observe a diverse online site that is active 24 hours a day? When is providing credit more important that insuring anonymity?.
Design Guidelines. Since our findings are related to social behavior (in contrast to motor or perceptual behavior), how can we inform designers in a principled manner to guide subsequent work in network communities?.

Selected Publications