The research methodology includes observation and discourse analysis of the verbal interactions in this online community and online and off-line interviews with its moderator and participants. The data are used to understand what participation in virtual communities means to these people, as well as how it fits into the larger picture of their lives. Relationships between the specific groupware community members utilize and the ethical quality of their interactions are identified and evaluated. Our analysis reveals that the existence of voluntary online communities, such as the one we examined, is critically dependant on the emergence of a reliable system of ethical norms. In fact, people turn to their virtual community because it represents an ethical environment they can predict and control as opposed to the precarious ethics of their surrounding world.
Software can help or obstruct the emergence and maintenance of ethical norms in a decisive way.
We identify some of these difficulties and propose ways in which they can be eliminated by alternative software designs. We provide guidelines for designers and organizers who face the challenge of constructing viable virtual communities. For further communication, please contact either myself, or Prof. Andrew Feenberg Philosophy Dept. San Diego State Univ.