Building Successful Online Communities: Evidence-Based Social Design
"Building Successful Online Communitiesis the book we've all been waiting for. Students, faculty, and professional developers will learn how online communities function. There's something for everyone--empirical findings framed in theory, and gems of advice. The authors are remarkable researchers, teachers, and leaders in the field."--Jennifer J. Preece, Professor and Dean, College of Information Studies, University of Maryland's iSchool"While many books have described the patterns and building blocks of successful social spaces from an architectural perspective,Building Successful Online Communitiesmoves beyond the tangible and derives critical features and design claims for thriving communities in the more malleable online world. The authors provide real world examples and observations to help practitioners design an online community. In the process, they create a vocabulary and environment that engages the reader to want to design an online social space."--Kyratso George Karahalios, Associate Professor, University of Illinois"This work provides the science behind the observations we made inBuilding Web Reputation Systems. Its format of design claims, thoroughly supported by research and examples, is a must-have resource for anyone thinking of deploying successful online communities."--F. Randall Farmer, online communities pioneer, and coauthor ofBuilding Web Reputation Systems