IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/cog/meanco/v10y2022i2p29-40.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

A Systems Approach to Studying Online Communities

Author

Listed:
  • Jeremy Foote

    (Brian Lamb School of Communication, Purdue University, USA)

Abstract

Much early communication research was inspired by systems theory. This approach emphasizes that individuals and groups use communication to interact with and respond to their larger environment and attempts to outline the ways that different levels interact with each other (e.g., work groups within departments within firms). Many concepts from systems theory—such as emergence and feedback loops—have become integral parts of communication theories. However, until recently, quantitative researchers have struggled to apply a systems approach. Large-scale, multilevel trace data from online platforms combined with computational advances are enabling a turn back toward systems-inspired research. I outline four systems-based approaches that recent research uses to study online communities: community comparisons, individual trajectories, cross-level mechanisms, and simulating emergent behavior. I end with a discussion of the opportunities and challenges of systems-based research for quantitative communication scholars.

Suggested Citation

  • Jeremy Foote, 2022. "A Systems Approach to Studying Online Communities," Media and Communication, Cogitatio Press, vol. 10(2), pages 29-40.
    • Handle: RePEc:cog:meanco:v10:y:2022:i:2:p:29-40
    DOI: 10.17645/mac.v10i2.5042
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/mediaandcommunication/article/view/5042
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.17645/mac.v10i2.5042?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Unknown, 2016. "Proceedings Of Abstracts," 152nd Seminar, August 30 - September 1, 2016, Novi Sad, Serbia 244068, European Association of Agricultural Economists.
    2. Georg von Krogh & Eric von Hippel, 2006. "The Promise of Research on Open Source Software," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 52(7), pages 975-983, July.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Jeremy Foote, 2022. "A Systems Approach to Studying Online Communities," Media and Communication, Cogitatio Press, vol. 10(2), pages 29-40.
    2. Magnus Schückes & Tobias Gutmann, 2021. "Why do startups pursue initial coin offerings (ICOs)? The role of economic drivers and social identity on funding choice," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 57(2), pages 1027-1052, August.
    3. Arthur Schram & Boris Van Leeuwen & Theo Offerman, 2013. "Superstars Need Social Benefits: An Experiment on Network Formation," Working Papers 1306, Departament Empresa, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, revised Jul 2013.
    4. Stam, Wouter, 2009. "When does community participation enhance the performance of open source software companies?," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 38(8), pages 1288-1299, October.
    5. Michael Vössing & Niklas Kühl & Matteo Lind & Gerhard Satzger, 2022. "Designing Transparency for Effective Human-AI Collaboration," Information Systems Frontiers, Springer, vol. 24(3), pages 877-895, June.
    6. de Jong, Jeroen P.J. & Ben-Menahem, Shiko M. & Franke, Nikolaus & Füller, Johann & von Krogh, Georg, 2021. "Treading new ground in household sector innovation research: Scope, emergence, business implications, and diffusion," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 50(8).
    7. Thierry Burger-Helmchen & Patrick Llerena, 2008. "A case study of a creative start-up: governance, communities and knowledge management," Journal of Innovation Economics, De Boeck Université, vol. 0(2), pages 125-146.
    8. Terrence August & Hyoduk Shin & Tunay I. Tunca, 2018. "Generating Value Through Open Source: Software Service Market Regulation and Licensing Policy," Information Systems Research, INFORMS, vol. 29(1), pages 186-205, March.
    9. Yang Gao, 2022. "The Belt and Road Initiative and cascading innovation in China’s domestic railway ecosystem," Journal of International Business Policy, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 5(2), pages 236-258, June.
    10. Nava Ashraf & Edward Glaeser & Abraham Holland & Bryce Millett Steinberg, 2017. "Water, Health and Wealth," NBER Working Papers 23807, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    11. Martin Fiszbein, 2017. "Agricultural Diversity, Structural Change and Long-run Development: Evidence from the U.S," NBER Working Papers 23183, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    12. Ana Gouveia & Sílvia Santos & Inês Gonçalves, 2017. "The short-term impact of structural reforms on productivity growth: beyond direct effects," GEE Papers 0065, Gabinete de Estratégia e Estudos, Ministério da Economia, revised Feb 2017.
    13. Blecker, Thorsten & Abdelkafi, Nizar & Raasch, Christina, 2008. "Enabling and Sustaining Collaborative Innovation," MPRA Paper 8964, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    14. Wen Gao & Xinhong Hei & Yichuan Wang, 2023. "The Data Privacy Protection Method for Hyperledger Fabric Based on Trustzone," Mathematics, MDPI, vol. 11(6), pages 1-16, March.
    15. Kai Lu & Alireza Khani & Baoming Han, 2018. "A Trip Purpose-Based Data-Driven Alighting Station Choice Model Using Transit Smart Card Data," Complexity, Hindawi, vol. 2018, pages 1-14, August.
    16. Dan Andrews & Filippos Petroulakis, 2017. "Breaking the Shackles: Zombie Firms, Weak Banks and Depressed Restructuring in Europe," OECD Economics Department Working Papers 1433, OECD Publishing.
    17. Boris van Leeuwen & Theo Offerman & Arthur Schram, 2020. "Competition for Status Creates Superstars: an Experiment on Public Good Provision and Network Formation," Journal of the European Economic Association, European Economic Association, vol. 18(2), pages 666-707.
    18. Muhammad Touseef Ikram & Muhammad Tanvir Afzal, 2019. "Aspect based citation sentiment analysis using linguistic patterns for better comprehension of scientific knowledge," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 119(1), pages 73-95, April.
    19. Katarzyna Szopik-Depczyńska & Katarzyna Cheba & Iwona Bąk & Giuseppe Ioppolo, 2019. "User-Driven Innovation in Poland: Determinants and Recommendations," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(1), pages 1-19, December.
    20. Alex Luscombe & Kevin Dick & Kevin Walby, 2022. "Algorithmic thinking in the public interest: navigating technical, legal, and ethical hurdles to web scraping in the social sciences," Quality & Quantity: International Journal of Methodology, Springer, vol. 56(3), pages 1023-1044, June.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:cog:meanco:v10:y:2022:i:2:p:29-40. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: António Vieira or IT Department (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.cogitatiopress.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.