Virtual community informatics: what we know and what we need to know

The virtual community has just recently emerged with divergent opinions on the basic understanding of it. This study aims at collecting different definitions and classifications in the virtual community, and offers a working definition. It also addresses research conducted in the field by referring to Information Systems journals. The research categorizes the different stages in virtual community growth to show the transition of research in this area. A survey is also conducted on the extent of the adoption of informatics in virtual community web sites.