An investigation of sociability measurements in online communities

Wright, Nelson; Varey, Alison; Chesney, Thomas

Abstract

This paper reports the results of an investigation into measurements of the sociability of proximate online communities, in other words, how well it supports social interaction rather than in terms of its usability, which tends to focus on task issues and user satisfaction. Measurements that have been proposed by other writers are investigated and several new measurements are proposed. These were tested during the introduction of a new proximate online student community called Veritas. The results showed that sociability is best measured by a combination of qualitative and quantitative approaches.

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Jan 5, 2005
• Online Publication Date: Nov 1, 2005
• Publication Date: 2005
• Deposit Date: Mar 30, 2017
• Publicly Available Date: Apr 3, 2017
• Journal: International Journal of Web Based Communities
• Print ISSN: 1477-8394
• Electronic ISSN: 1741-8216
• Publisher: Inderscience
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 1
• Issue: 4
• Pages: 400
• Series ISSN: 1477-8394
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1504/ijwbc.2005.008106
• Keywords: Computer Networks and Communications; Software; Communication; Education
• Public URL: http://researchrepository.napier.ac.uk/Output/446760
• Contract Date: Mar 30, 2017