Online Communities in the Digital Economy

Abstract

Some years ago, Online Communities were considered one of the most promising innovations resulting from the Internet revolution. Community building and communitydevelopment were proclaimed as key success factors for the digital enterprise. As a result, Internet ventures tried to artificially build and foster Online Communities indifferent forms ? as part of online shops, portal sites or B2B platforms, or as design, relationship or gaming communities. At the same time research was mainlyrelated to topics such as how to build a community and how to gain critical mass and market shares as soon as possible.