(Subscription required -- or visit your local newsstand)

Communications of the ACM
Volume 45, Issue 4 (April 2002)

Excerpts from the TOC:

Teaching the Nintendo generation to program
Hijacking the web
Anonymity on the Internet: why the price may be too high
Social Translucence
visualizing online conversations
Tools for navigating large social cyberspaces
Audience-specific online community design

Social networks such as communities are sustained by social capital, and the need for social capital is evident ... Communications tools build and strengthen social capital, and technology professionals must develop a comprehensive strategy in order to enhance and improve the effectiveness of such media. They must focus on developing inexpensive hardware, software, and infrastructure that is available to anyone regardless of social strata, income, and educational level. The challenges inherent in doing this include creating highly accessible technologies and making sure that the software supports online social interaction. Community leaders and moderators must also contribute if trust -- the foundation of any social network -- is to be engendered. A key component of generating trust is developing a system that can measure community members' presence and past interactions. Justifying the creation of online communities requires a wide-ranging solution for determining their development costs and advantages, while insight into social interactions and the concept of technology as a mediator will aid in their development. A successful online community must be built upon existing technology that can increase its power and be universally available.

Supporting community and building social capital