What changes online participation in culture?

The widespread perception of online participation in culture as the communal production of meaning is not least due to the fact that creative online communities are often autotelic in what they produce. As we have seen, there is a social benefit in addition to the functional benefit. Soliciting a response to a question that draws attention to a personal contribution is an example of functional benefit; another would be requesting an appraisal or feedback from other community members (Cook et al., 2009; Nov et al., 2009). Although these functional purposes are also „social“ in that they involve interaction with other members, their aim is to achieve progress in a creative project.

In contrast, the longer a member remains involved in a community, the greater the importance of membership itself and the sense of affiliation this produces. The autotelic quality found within these communities is based on social support and the establishment of identity – whether it be merely through the choice of a specific name or take the form of mutual self-reassurance (Ewing, 2008; Rajagopalan, 2011). This function of online participation possesses a particular significance for smaller and marginalised groups within society in particular, for instance sexual, ethnic or religious minorities (Alon & Brunel, 2007; Kissau, 2008). In these cases, participation on the Internet can produce greater self-acceptance and self-assurance, while providing an escape from perceived isolation (McKenna & Bargh, 1998). In this sense, surfing the Internet and searching for a suitable community represents an act of digital self-discovery and identity-formation (Helland, 2002).

Online participation strenghtens solidarity and identity formation of smaller and marginalized social groups, e.g. sexual, ethnic or religious minorities.

Example 13: „LDS.net“ is an online network run by the Mormon faith group, used to publish and share mutual testimonies of beliefs.

Online communities are an interesting instrument of dissemination and support for the providers of cultural commodities. Communities of this kind can be meeting places for friends, enthusiasts and fans to come together, share experience and become organised. Once they are members of an online community, fans experience a greater sense of affiliation, even if in physical terms they remain far removed from the object of their adulation and his or her activities (Bennett, 2012). Here we find voluntary word of mouth propaganda and viral communication similar to what is seen in the area of participation in business. Again and again, fan communities of this kind tend to take on lives of their own – sharing within the community and the sense of affiliation are then more important than the original subject of discussion (Rajagopalan, 2011).

Online community for the distribution of cultural goods: "Bandcamp"

Example 14: Ambitious and independent musicians can use „Bandcamp“ to create their own profiles to help familiarise a broad audience with their album releases. Bandcamp takes a 15 % cut in all revenues generated in this way.

Equally, this addresses a possible drawback with regard to online participation in culture: It is quite rare for online engagement to take root in the offline world. Online communities possess a narrow topical focus, beyond which the members have few things in common. Therefore, online „friendship“ between community members rarely transitions into the offline world (Nonnecke et al., 2006). By the same token: Active members in an online community experience greater satisfaction and more benefits than passive members such as „Lurkers“ (Nonnecke et al., 2006). Once more the social benefits are felt most keenly in marginalised groups (Alon & Brunel, 2007), a fact that sometimes prompts these groups to use the Internet for particularly active and interactive communication (Helland, 2002).

Social network specialised on the needs of the elderly: "Senior.com"

Example 15: „Senior.com“ is a social network specifically designed to suit the needs of the older generation.

Ultimately there is the hope that active sharing on the Net, also the functional and social support found in online communities, will continue to simplify the use of new media and hence contribute to their creative application. In this way, new media can prompt broader, more active cultural engagement, lower the barriers to access and produce a wider selection and broader promotion of creativity (Ryu et al., 2009). Ultimately, though, extensive empirical research will be necessary to analyse whether these hopes will be fulfilled.