Signifiers of community online Necessary activities to maintain a strong online community Four types of consumer needs that online communities meet The first communities online can be traced back to 1979 with the introduction of message boards. In this year, Usenet, the first public bulletin boards, and CompuServe's forums were created. Successful online communities need to have user interaction with a common intent. There also needs to be a reciprocal exchange of information and ideas. Therefore, users must have the desire to interact with one another and help each other concerning common issues.
Online communities are a two-way street.
Successful online communities help build deeper relationships between the publishers and users. The publishers can learn about the users, and vice versa, so that the two agents can fulfill each other's needs. Community can be signified online in various ways. There are six key ways that is used in this analysis. The first signifier is a self-sustaining environment.