doi:10.1111/j.1365-2575.2008.00304.x Info Systems J (2008) 19, 55–81 55 Exploring the dynamics of blog communities: the case of MetaFilter Leiser Silva*, Lakshmi Goel† & Elham Mousavidin‡ *C. T. Bauer College of Business, University of Houston, USA, email:
[email protected], †C. T. Bauer College of Business, University of Houston, USA, email:
[email protected], and ‡
[email protected] Abstract. This paper explores the social processes and mechanisms that give form to a prominent type of online community: community blogs. We conducted an interpretive study that examines a particular community blog, MetaFilter, by drawing on the concepts of communities of practice as a theoretical lens. Theo- retically, we contribute to the body of knowledge of online communities by identi- fying the structures of an emergent type of community that is brought together by blog technology. Our findings suggest that cohesion in a community blog is brought about by the following practices: (a) explicit ground rules regarding mem- bership, (b) presence of moderators, (c) availability of profile information, (d) ‘net etiquette’, (e) tacit warrants for discerning pertinent posts, and (f) the deployment of specific techniques of discipline. Keywords: blogs, communities of practice, knowledge management, Web 2.0, virtual communities, interpretive research INTRODUCTION The advent of the internet has created new venues for communication and social exchanges. These venues, such as forums and newsgroups, are the focal point for the creation of new types of interactions among individuals that take the form of virtual communities (Komito, 1998; Etzioni & Etzioni, 1999; Bakardjieva & Feenberg, 2002; Wilson & Peterson, 2002).