A80.
Katz, J. E., Rice, R. E., Acord, S., Dasgupta, K., & David,
K.
(2004). Personal mediated communication and the concept of
community
in theory and practice. In P. Kalbfleisch (Ed.), Communication and
community,
communication yearbook 28. (pp. 315-371). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.
This chapter has three purposes: first, to review theoretical and
practical aspects of the concept of community that may be relevant to a
better understanding of relationships between mediated communication
and
community; second, to explore how personal mediated communication may
be
affecting the creation, processes, and fates of communities; and third,
to consider how the power of mediated communication technologies might
alter traditional theories of communities. The chapter begins
with
a review of the concept of community, discussing positive and negative
perspectives on the relationship between mediated communication and
community.
Then the chapter examines mediated communications, especially the
Internet
and mobile phone technology, and their potential impact on social
relationships
within communities. Next, the chapter considers the prospect of virtual
mobile communication-based communities becoming an effective source of
social capital. Interwoven with these considerations are suggestions
for
modifications in traditional community theory-building in light of
these
new technologies. Mobiles are a special focus because already so much
of
the world’s population are using them, and the number of users and the
extent of their use are expected to continue to grow rapidly.
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