62-537: AC Landshut is a German automobile and motorcycle club best known for its motorcycle speedway team Landshut Devils , based in Landshut , Bavaria . It was founded by ADAC members in 1922 and has won a record 12 German Bundesliga championships and a record 7 West German Championships (1973-1990). Since 1975 they have raced at the Ellermühle Speedway Stadium . Due to the suspension of
124-1060: A "family of invisible friends". Additionally, these "friends" can be connected through gaming communities and gaming companies. Those who wish to be a part of an online community usually have to become a member via a specific site and thereby gain access to specific content or links. An online community can act as an information system where members can post, comment on discussions, give advice or collaborate, and includes medical advice or specific health care research as well. Commonly, people communicate through social networking sites , chat rooms , forums , email lists, and discussion boards, and have advanced into daily social media platforms as well. This includes Facebook , Twitter , Instagram , Discord , etc. People may also join online communities through video games , blogs , and virtual worlds , and could potentially meet new significant others in dating sites or dating virtual worlds. The rise in popularity of Web 2.0 websites has allowed for easier real-time communication and connection to others and facilitated
186-480: A barrier, people become novices and participate in community life. After contributing for a sustained period of time, they become regulars. If they break through another barrier they become leaders, and once they have contributed to the community for some time they become elders. This life cycle can be applied to many virtual communities, such as bulletin board systems , blogs , mailing lists , and wiki-based communities like Misplaced Pages. A similar model can be found in
248-407: A chance to reach a new group of consumers in online communities, but to also tap into information about the consumers. Companies have a chance to learn about the consumers in an environment that they feel a certain amount of anonymity and are thus, more open to allowing a company to see what they really want or are looking for. In order to establish a relationship with the consumer a company must seek
310-430: A character theory for analyzing online communities, based on tribal typologies. In the communities they investigated they identified three character types: Online communities have also forced retail firms to change their business strategies. Companies have to network more, adjust computations, and alter their organizational structures. This leads to changes in a company's communications with their manufacturers including
372-445: A common public place where members can meet and interact, and sustained membership over time. Based on these considerations, it can be said that microblogs such as Twitter can be classified as online communities. Dorine C. Andrews argues, in the article "Audience-Specific Online Community Design", that there are three parts to building an online community: starting the online community, encouraging early online interaction, and moving to
434-486: A company must understand the dynamic and structure of the online community to be able to establish a relationship with the consumer. Online communities have cultures of their own, and to be able to establish a commercial relationship or even engage at all, one must understand the community values and proprieties. It has even been proved beneficial to treat online commercial relationships more as friendships rather than business transactions. Through online engagement, because of
496-558: A fear of criticism or inaccuracy. Users may withhold information that they do not believe is particularly interesting, relevant, or truthful. In order to challenge these contribution barriers, producers of these sites are responsible for developing knowledge-based and foundation-based trust among the community. Users' perception of audience is another reason that makes users participate in online communities. Results showed that users usually underestimate their amount of audiences in online communities. Social media users guess that their audience
558-470: A heated parkade, with the car clubs generally facilitating a deal with the operators of the facility. Online communities An online community , also called an internet community or web community , is a community whose members interact with each other primarily via the Internet. Members of the community usually share common interests. For many, online communities may feel like home, consisting of
620-418: A hobby, but a lifestyle. The Internet accelerated the growth of participation as online communities attracted large numbers of members. The Internet encouraged and fostered the development of many clubs centered on specific vehicles, including niche makes and models. Unlike traditional clubs, the content of most online communities is open to all for free. This has facilitated their growth and made them
682-659: A mass audience without needing a large budget. Production value is often high given the technology available to amateurs in the forms of software, cameras, microphones, and other producing equipment. In some countries, notably in Japan , some car clubs are run as a way of regulating street races and to race against people they know, therefore reducing the possibility of an accident. Clubs are used to enter team drifting contests. Canadian car clubs have been known to host indoor car meets to avoid harsh weather and to make up for short summer seasons. These events are commonly hosted in
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#1732775834729744-438: A minority of Misplaced Pages users contribute regularly, and only a minority of those contributors participate in community discussions. In one study conducted by Carnegie Mellon University , they found that "more than two-thirds (68%) of newcomers to Usenet groups were never seen again after their first post". Above facts reflect a point that recruiting and remaining new members have become a very crucial problem for online communities:
806-521: A mobile device in the United States. Researchers and organizations have worked to classify types of online community and to characterise their structure. For example, it is important to know the security, access, and technology requirements of a given type of community as it may evolve from an open to a private and regulated forum. It has been argued that the technical aspects of online communities, such as whether pages can be created and edited by
868-769: A paid business with salaried employees; in the 1960s, some were sponsored by car dealers . Many car clubs charge membership fees in exchange for benefits, such as publications and events. The publications typically contain photographs, messages from other members, service and parts advice, items and vehicles wanted and/or for sale, and historical material of interest to the membership. Car clubs often host gatherings (called " meets ") which often also welcome interested non-members. Car clubs also may engage in other activities of various types, including races , cruising , shows, "mod" days when garage equipment and service tools are available for members to perform and assist each other with DIY work, or community service activities. Meets are
930-784: A resource for potential owners or newbies . Larger online communities report registered members in the hundreds of thousands. The Internet communities typically provide features such as forums , content databases (which include vehicle specifications, driving characteristics, repair information, and car tuning advice), Instant messaging services, photo-sharing, and commercial services (such as for sale by owner listings, part supplier directories , and referrals to mechanics and car dealers). Most automotive communities were founded by individual enthusiasts/ entrepreneurs , but some have been acquired by various internet and communication companies. As with traditional car clubs, some Internet automotive communities sponsor or operate off-line meets. Many of
992-649: A role in the cycle of social networking, such as: An article entitled "The real value of on-line communities," written by A. Armstrong and John Hagel of the Harvard Business Review , addresses a handful of elements that are key to the growth of an online community and its success in drawing in members. In this example, the article focuses specifically on online communities related to business, but its points can be transferred and can apply to any online community. The article addresses four main categories of business-based online communities, but states that
1054-597: A self-sustaining interactive environment. When starting an online community, it may be effective to create webpages that appeal to specific interests. Online communities with clear topics and easy access tend to be most effective. In order to gain early interaction by members, privacy guarantees and content discussions are very important. Successful online communities tend to be able to function self-sufficiently. There are two major types of participation in online communities: public participation and non-public participation, also called lurking. Lurkers are participants who join
1116-521: A sense, virtual communities may fill social voids in participants' offline lives. Sociologist Barry Wellman presents the idea of "globalization" – the Internet's ability to extend participants' social connections to people around the world while also aiding them in further engagement with their local communities. Although online societies differ in content from real society, the roles people assume in their online communities are quite similar. Elliot Volkman points out several categories of people that play
1178-898: A set of values, sometimes known collectively as netiquette or Internet etiquette, as they grow. These values may include: opportunity, education, culture, democracy, human services, equality within the economy, information, sustainability, and communication. An online community's purpose is to serve as a common ground for people who share the same interests. Online communities may be used as calendars to keep up with events such as upcoming gatherings or sporting events. They also form around activities and hobbies. Many online communities relating to health care help inform, advise, and support patients and their families. Students can take classes online and they may communicate with their professors and peers online. Businesses have also started using online communities to communicate with their customers about their products and services as well as to share information about
1240-424: A shared communication environment, relationships formed and nurtured, a sense of belonging to a group, the internal structure of the group, common space shared by people with similar ideas and interests. The three most critical issues are belonging, identity, and interest. For an online community to flourish there needs to be consistent participation, interest, and motivation. Research conducted by Helen Wang applied
1302-578: A show, or assisting with ticket sales, etc. Upon the completion of their prospect status, members will be "patched in," whereupon they are considered full members of the club. In traditional car clubs in the US, this is typically signified by the awarding of a jacket or T-shirt with the club's name and logo on the back, and the awarding of a metal "drag plate," to be hung on the car, displaying their membership status and club name. Many (if not most) traditional car clubs have now added online presences, although most of
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#17327758347291364-402: A site is SixDegrees.com , set up in 1997, which included a friends list and the ability to send messages to members linked to friends and see other users associations. For much of the 21st century, the popularity of such networks has been growing. Friendster was the first social network to gain mass media attention; however, by 2004 it had been overtaken in popularity by Myspace , which in turn
1426-461: A time for the club to be with one another, talk about cars, and participate in other activities, such as eating, sightseeing, movies, etc. Additionally, some car clubs have a "prospecting" status, where prospective members of the club meet with established club members, to assess their suitability within the club. During this time, prospective members will help work on club cars, attend events, and sometimes perform tasks; such as helping to park cars at
1488-406: A truly successful one will combine qualities of each of them: communities of transaction, communities of interest, communities of fantasy, and communities of relationship. Anubhav Choudhury describes the four types of community as follows: Amy Jo Kim's membership lifecycle theory states that members of online communities begin their life in a community as visitors, or lurkers. After breaking through
1550-409: A virtual community but do not contribute. In contrast, public participants, or posters, are those who join virtual communities and openly express their beliefs and opinions. Both lurkers and posters frequently enter communities to find answers and to gather general information. For example, there are several online communities dedicated to technology. In these communities, posters are generally experts in
1612-416: A way to identify with how individuals interact with the community. This is done by understanding the relationships an individual has with an online community. There are six identifiable relationship statuses: considered status, committed status, inactive status, faded status, recognized status, and unrecognized status. Unrecognized status means the consumer is unaware of the online community or has not decided
1674-509: Is 27% of its real size. Regardless of this underestimation, it is shown that amount of audience affects users' self-presentation and also content production which means a higher level of participation. There are two types of virtual online communities (VOC): dependent and self-sustained VOCs. The dependent VOCs are those who use the virtual community as extensions of themselves, they interact with people they know. Self-sustained VOCs are communities where relationships between participating members
1736-511: Is defined as an aggregation of individuals or business partners who interact around a shared interest, where the interaction is at least partially supported or mediated by technology (or both) and guided by some protocols or norms". Digital communities (web communities but also communities that are formed over, e.g., Xbox and PlayStation) provide a platform for a range of services to users. It has been argued that they can fulfill Maslow's hierarchy of needs . They allow for social interaction across
1798-426: Is formed and maintained through encounters in the online community. For all VOCs, there is the issue of creating identity and reputation in the community. People can create whatever identity they would like to through their interactions with other members. The username is what members identify each other by but it says very little about the person behind it. The main features in online communities that attract people are
1860-482: Is that an individual will participate in an online community. Establishing a relationship between the consumer and a seller has become a new science with the emergence of online communities. It is a new market to be tapped by companies and to do so, requires an understanding of the relationships built on online communities. Online communities gather people around common interests and these common interests can include brands, products, and services. Companies not only have
1922-451: Is when an online community has not relevance to a person. The faded status is when a person has begun to fade away from a site. It is important to be able to recognize which group or status the consumer holds, because it might help determine which approach to use. Companies not only need to understand how a consumer functions within an online community, but also a company "should understand the communality of an online community" This means
AC Landshut - Misplaced Pages Continue
1984-471: The 20 most-trafficked websites were community-based sites. The amount of traffic to such websites is expected to increase as a growing proportion of the world's population attains Internet access. The idea of a community is not a new concept. On the telephone, in ham radio and in the online world, social interactions no longer have to be based on proximity; instead they can literally be with anyone anywhere. The study of communities has had to adapt along with
2046-664: The German Speedway Bundesliga due to the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, the club joined the Polish 1. Liga in 2021. The club reached the play offs of 1.Liga during the 2022 Polish Speedway season and remained in the league for the 2023 season. 2023 squad 2022 squad Car club A car club or automotive enthusiast community is a group of people who share a common interest in motor vehicles . Car clubs are typically organized by enthusiasts around
2108-599: The Technology Acceptance Model to online community participation. Internet self-efficacy positively predicted perceived ease of use. Research found that participants' beliefs in their abilities to use the internet and web-based tools determined how much effort was expected. Community environment positively predicted perceived ease of use and usefulness. Intrinsic motivation positively predicted perceived ease of use, usefulness, and actual use. The technology acceptance model positively predicts how likely it
2170-431: The United States, but European services like VK , Japanese platform LINE , or Chinese social networks WeChat , QQ or video-sharing app Douyin (internationally known as TikTok ) have also garnered appeal in their respective regions. Current trends focus around the increased use of mobile devices when using social networks. Statistics from Statista show that, in 2013, 97.9 million users accessed social networks from
2232-540: The ability to attach files, embed YouTube videos, and send private messages is now commonplace. As of October 2014, the largest forum Gaia Online contained over 2 billion posts. Members are commonly assigned into user groups which control their access rights and permissions. Common access levels include the following: Social networks are platforms allowing users to set up their own profile and build connections with like minded people who pursue similar interests through interaction. The first traceable example of such
2294-420: The attraction of writing and contributing. This, coupled with the fact that organizational culture does not change overnight, means creators can expect slow progress at first with a new virtual community. As more people begin to participate, however, the aforementioned motivations will increase, creating a virtuous cycle in which more participation begets more participation. Community adoption can be forecast with
2356-524: The business. Other online communities allow a wide variety of professionals to come together to share thoughts, ideas and theories. Fandom is an example of what online communities can evolve into. Online communities have grown in influence in "shaping the phenomena around which they organize" according to Nancy K. Baym's work. She says that: "More than any other commercial sector, the popular culture industry relies on online communities to publicize and provide testimonials for their products." The strength of
2418-432: The communities will eventually wither away without replacing members who leave. Newcomers are new members of the online communities and thus often face many barriers when contributing to a project, and those barriers they face might lead them to give up the project or even leave the community. By conducting a systematic literature review over 20 primary studies regarding to the barriers faced by newcomers when contributing to
2480-424: The community to be useful. The recognized status is where a person is aware of the community, but is not entirely involved. A considered status is when a person begins their involvement with the site. The usage at this stage is still very sporadic. The committed status is when a relationship between a person and an online community is established and the person gets fully involved with the community. The inactive status
2542-495: The content typically resides in a walled garden for members only. Most clubs have an online presence mainly through their car forums relevant to their car of interest. Some clubs also have their website. They usually use the forums or their site to organize their meets and gatherings. For example, before a big event, they would organize to see how many people are going, where to meet up, and how to caravan to their destination. Many car club members consider what they do to be not merely
AC Landshut - Misplaced Pages Continue
2604-416: The field who can offer technological insight and answer questions, while lurkers tend to be technological novices who use the communities to find answers and to learn. In general, virtual community participation is influenced by how participants view themselves in society as well as by norms, both of society and of the online community. Participants also join online communities for friendship and support. In
2666-676: The first to find a satisfying way of representing electronic chatter on-screen." Fan communities in platforms like Twitter , Instagram , and Reddit around sports, actors, and musicians have become powerful communities both culturally and politically. Discussions where members may post their feedback are essential in the development of an online community. Online communities may encourage individuals to come together to teach and learn from one another. They may encourage learners to discuss and learn about real-world problems and situations, as well as to focus on such things as teamwork, collaborative thinking and personal experiences. Blogs are among
2728-418: The general user base (as is the case with wikis ) or only certain users (as is the case with most blogs), can place online communities into stylistic categories. Another approach argues that "online community" is a metaphor and that contributors actively negotiate the meaning of the term, including values and social norms. Some research has looked at the users of online communities. Amy Jo Kim has classified
2790-448: The greatest attractions towards online communities is the sense of connection users build among members. Participation and contribution are influenced when members of an online community are aware of their global audience. The majority of people learn by example and often follow others, especially when it comes to participation. Individuals are reserved about contributing to an online community for many reasons including but not limited to
2852-551: The immediate area offline. This has led to a range of popular sites based on areas such as health, employment, finances and education. Online communities can be vital for companies for marketing and outreach. Unexpected and innovative uses of web communities have also emerged with social networks being used in conflicts to alert citizens of impending attacks. The UN sees the web and specifically social networks as an important tool in conflicts and emergencies. Web communities have grown in popularity; as of October 2014, 6 of
2914-424: The information shared and made accessible for further productivity and profits. Because consumers and customers in all fields are becoming accustomed to more interaction and engagement online, adjustments must be considered made in order to keep audiences intrigued. Online communities have been characterized as "virtual settlements" that have the following four requirements: interactivity, a variety of communicators,
2976-417: The introduction of new ways for information to be exchanged. Yet, these interactions may also lead to a downfall of social interactions or deposit more negative and derogatory forms of speaking to others, in connection, surfaced forms of racism, bullying, sexist comments, etc. may also be investigated and linked to online communities. One scholarly definition of an online community is this: "a virtual community
3038-400: The leading Internet communities feature active directories of regional meets. Communities have also begun to form around digital media outlets such as YouTube channels and podcasts. Car enthusiasts can comment and share opinions, allowing for an element of connection not found with other media variants. These platforms are being used by smaller studios and individuals to distribute content to
3100-554: The major platforms on which online communities form. Blogging practices include microblogging , where the amount of information in a single element is smaller, and liveblogging , in which an ongoing event is blogged about in real time. The ease and convenience of blogging has allowed for its growth. Major blogging platforms include Twitter and Tumblr , which combine social media and blogging, as well as platforms such as WordPress , which allow content to be hosted on their own servers but also permit users to download, install, and modify
3162-474: The new technologies. Many researchers have used ethnography to attempt to understand what people do in online spaces, how they express themselves, what motivates them, how they govern themselves, what attracts them, and why some people prefer to observe rather than participate. Online communities can congregate around a shared interest and can be spread across multiple websites. Some features of online communities include: Online communities typically establish
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#17327758347293224-879: The one side, newcomers can bring online communities innovative ideas and resources. On the other side, they can also harm communities with misbehavior caused by their unfamiliarity with community norms. Kraut et al. defined five basic issues faced by online communities when dealing with newcomers, and proposed several design claims for each problem in their book Building Successful Online Communities . Successful online communities motivate online participation . Methods of motivating participation in these communities have been investigated in several studies. There are many persuasive factors that draw users into online communities. Peer-to-peer systems and social networking sites rely heavily on member contribution. Users' underlying motivations to involve themselves in these communities have been linked to some persuasion theories of sociology. One of
3286-410: The online community should not be viewed as "merely a sales channel". Instead it should be viewed as a network for establishing interpersonal communications with the consumer. Most online communities grow slowly at first, due in part to the fact that the strength of motivation for contributing is usually proportional to the size of the community. As the size of the potential audience increases, so does
3348-413: The online community's power is displayed through the season 3 premiere of BBC's Sherlock . Online activity by fans seem to have had a noticeable influence on the plot and direction of the season opening episode. Mark Lawson of The Guardian recounts how fans have, to a degree, directed the outcome of the events of the episode. He says that "Sherlock has always been one of the most web-aware shows, among
3410-418: The open source software projects, Steinmacher et al. identified 15 different barriers and they classified those barriers into five categories as described below: Because of the barriers described above, it is very necessary that online communities engage newcomers and help them to adjust to the new environment. From online communities' side, newcomers can be both beneficial and harmful to online communities. On
3472-434: The rituals and stages of online community interaction and called it the "membership life cycle". Clay Shirky talks about communities of practice, whose members collaborate and help each other in order to make something better or improve a certain skill. What makes these communities bond is "love" of something, as demonstrated by members who go out of their way to help without any financial interest. Campbell et al. developed
3534-445: The smoke screen of anonymity, it allows a person to be able to socially interact with strangers in a much more personal way. This personal connection the consumer feels translates to how they want to establish relationships online. They separate what is commercial or spam and what is relational. Relational becomes what they associate with human interaction while commercial is what they associate with digital or non-human interaction. Thus
3596-617: The software on their own servers. As of October 2014, 23.1% of the top 10 million websites are either hosted on or run WordPress. Internet forums , sometimes called bulletin boards, are websites which allow users to post topics also known as threads for discussion with other users able to reply creating a conversation. Forums follow a hierarchical structure of categories, with many popular forum software platforms categorising forums depending on their purpose, and allowing forum administrators to create subforums within their platform. With time more advanced features have been added into forums;
3658-578: The type of vehicle (e.g. Chevrolet Corvette , Ford Mustang ), brand (e.g. Jeep ), or similar interest (e.g. off-roading ). Traditional car clubs were off-line organizations, but automotive on-line communities have flourished on the internet. Car clubs have been a form of gathering car aficionados for many years that focus a passion for a certain type of car or driving activity. Historically, car clubs refer to off-line entities, typically organized as non-profits and run by volunteers (who were most often elected). Some clubs were large enough to be run as
3720-591: The works of Lave and Wenger, who illustrate a cycle of how users become incorporated into virtual communities using the principles of legitimate peripheral participation. They suggest five types of trajectories amongst a learning community: The following shows the correlation between the learning trajectories and Web 2.0 community participation by using the example of YouTube : Newcomers are important for online communities. Online communities rely on volunteers' contribution, and most online communities face high turnover rate as one of their main challenges. For example, only
3782-402: The world between people of different cultures who might not otherwise have met with offline meetings also becoming more common. Another key use of web communities is access to and the exchange of information. With communities for even very small niches it is possible to find people also interested in a topic and to seek and share information on a subject where there are not such people available in
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#17327758347293844-461: Was later overtaken by Facebook . In 2013, Facebook attracted 1.23 billion monthly users, rising from 145 million in 2008. Facebook was the first social network to surpass 1 billion registered accounts, and by 2020, had more than 2.7 billion active users. Meta Platforms , the owner of Facebook, also owns three other leading platforms for online communities: Instagram , WhatsApp , and Facebook Messenger . Most top-ranked social networks originate in
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