About the Research

Community has persevered through continued technological change—but the question remains how, if at all, new forms of connecting affect sense of community. Research has both shown that sense of community exists as traditionally conceptualized in communities that are online, mobile, virtual, and otherwise mediated, and that sense of community is transformed when mediated. This research addresses membership across four community types, two specifically online, using the Brief Sense of Community Scale and a set of open-ended questions. Research also addressed why participants joined each community and how they understand sense of community within each. This research provides a new look at sense of community across community types including means of connection, with a concentration on sense of community in each community allowing for further analysis of how unique attributes of each community relate to members’ feelings of sense of community.

This research was supported by a Fielding Research Grant.