Active Lurking: Enhancing the Value of In-House Online Communities Through the Related Practices Around the Online Communities

MIT Sloan Research Paper No. 4646-07

CCI Working Paper No. 2007-006

11 Pages Posted: 4 Dec 2007 Last revised: 7 Feb 2008

See all articles by Masamichi Takahashi

Masamichi Takahashi

Fuji Xerox Co., Ltd.

Masakazu Fujimoto

affiliation not provided to SSRN

Nobuhiro Yamasaki

affiliation not provided to SSRN

Date Written: April 1, 2007

Abstract

In this paper we examine the possibility of evaluating the value of an online community in a company by focusing on the practices around the online community, which we call active lurking. We divided the practices into two types: independent practices that are completed within only an informal context, and connecting practices that have relationships with the formal organizational structure. We conducted a questionnaire for 2,584 participants in two types of online communities in a large manufacturing company, and semi-structured interviews of 102 participants. We concluded that our practice-based evaluation is useful for managers or designers of an online community to help them to understand, evaluate, and manage its practical impacts on their business activities before or after building it.

Keywords: on-line communities

Suggested Citation

Takahashi, Masamichi and Fujimoto, Masakazu and Yamasaki, Nobuhiro, Active Lurking: Enhancing the Value of In-House Online Communities Through the Related Practices Around the Online Communities (April 1, 2007). MIT Sloan Research Paper No. 4646-07, CCI Working Paper No. 2007-006, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1041261 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1041261

Masamichi Takahashi

Fuji Xerox Co., Ltd. ( email )

6-1 Minato-mirai, Nishi-ku
Yokohama, Kanagawa 220-8668
Japan

Masakazu Fujimoto (Contact Author)

affiliation not provided to SSRN ( email )

No Address Available

Nobuhiro Yamasaki

affiliation not provided to SSRN ( email )

No Address Available

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