Investigating the Role of Control and Support Mechanisms in Members’ Sense of Virtual Community

TLDR

Research on online communities has highlighted individual benefits of social support, yet little is known about how such communities are regulated through organizing processes of support and control. The study aims to develop and test a model linking social support, tie strength, normative influence, and concertive control to members’ sense of virtual community. Using a survey of 214 members of a specific online message board community, the authors assess these factors and their influence on SOVC. All four factors predict SOVC, with normative influence and concertive control having the strongest effects; social support and concertive control mediate the effects of strong ties and normative influence on SOVC, and no association was found between SOVC and time‑lagged posting frequency, indicating that attachment in online communities operates through combined support and control processes.

Abstract

Research on online communities has emphasized the individual benefits of social support for members, but less is known about how such communities are regulated through organizing processes of support and control. Drawing on a survey of 214 members of a particular online message board community, we develop and test a model of social support, strength of ties, normative influence, and concertive control and their influence on members’ sense of virtual community (SOVC). We find that all four factors predict SOVC, but that normative influence and concertive control have the strongest effects. Furthermore, social support and concertive control mediate the effects of number of strong ties and normative influence (respectively) on SOVC. Finally, we find no association between SOVC and time-lagged posting frequency. Our findings have important implications for understanding the factors that lead to attachment in online communities, and they suggest that sense of belonging works through tandem communicative processes of support and control.