Inscription and interpretation of text: a cultural hermeneutic examination of virtual community
People engaging in electronic exchanges can create communities--places with socially constituted norms, values, and expectations. We adopt an anthropological perspective, yoked with a methodology based in hermeneutics, to illustrate how language use both reflects and influences culture in a virtual...
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| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
University of Borås
2003-01-01
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| Series: | Information Research: An International Electronic Journal |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://informationr.net/ir/9-1/paper162.html |
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| Summary: | People engaging in electronic exchanges can create communities--places with socially constituted norms, values, and expectations. We adopt an anthropological perspective, yoked with a methodology based in hermeneutics, to illustrate how language use both reflects and influences culture in a virtual community. Our study analyses contributions to a Usenet newsgroup. Four elements of our conceptual model--coherence, reference, invention, and intention--provide mechanisms to examine a community's texts as it engages in social interaction and knowledge creation. While information exchange and socializing are intertwined, our model allows a robust understanding of the relationship between the two. Texts are not merely vehicles for communication but serve multiple purposes simultaneously. While they transfer information, texts also provide information within a social context, and create an expanding archive of socially-contextualized information well beyond the capabilities of any individual participant. This allows groups to negotiate reputations, socialize, and define the limits of their knowledge. |
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| ISSN: | 1368-1613 |