Tutorial six online communities

Provide the web address and the name of the community you are investigating MountainBiking Otago www.mountainbikingotago.co.nz

What is the brief or focus of this community This site keeps members updated on upcoming events and all issues related to mountain biking in Dunedin. It advises the meeting place for weekly rides and provides reports of the previous weeks rides.

What services are provided? How interactive is this site? How can people contribute? This site has information on rides and tracks in and around Dunedin. A news archive, discussion forum, event guide, photo gallery and links to other related sites such as bike shops, other bike clubs, event registrations and sponsers. Members are invited to share information in the discussion forum, they may talk about a good ride or track they have been on, recommending others try it or ask for members to join them on other rides or events. After each weekly ride both the Saturday ride and Mondays Ladies night ride someone in the group is expected to put in a report, this goes into the forum section of the site. You have to be a member to take part in the discussion forum but anyone can access the site and gain the information about the rides and events.

Consider material presented during the lecture and make comment on why people choose to contribute to this community. What is it they are seeking? People who are passionate about mountain biking contribute to this site. They seek to communicate and maintain regular contact with people with similar interests.

Cut and paste an example of the type of topics being discussed (you may have to provide a context to your excerpt). Ride for 26 May - Martha Hi All, The following details are from Martha who is going to take this ride.... "Anyhow, the best one for me to do (if no-one else has already picked the spot – and I won’t be offended if they have!) would be Mon 26th May. This will be my last Mon night girls ride before I shift up to Napier so I would like to do Forrester Park and some of the easy Bethunes track such as the old new track, if the weather plays ball. I thought that we could meet at the Willowbank dairy 5.45pm. If the weather is awful ie raining then the ride is canceled (I can post on the website by 4pm Mon – if I’ve forgotten my password I’ll text Sara and ask you to do it!) If the Monday is fine but the preceding weekend has been wet then we can go up to the top of the motorway +/- Sullivan’s Dam or maybe even the whole W V loop, depending on who turns up." Cheers Sara on behalf of Martha The above is notice of the intended Ladies night ride. It gives all information including cancellation. People will read where the ride is and decide if they want to do it or not. I went on this ride, we ended up going up to Sullivan’s dam as Bethune’s was too wet.

Considering material presented during the course and make comment on the potential ethical issues that may arise in this community e.g. lack of identity and accountability. While anyone can read discussion forum, only members can contribute. To do this they need to have registered as a member and need to use their login to access the site. Some people use pen names or aliases to protect their identity, but many use first names only.

Consider material presented during the lecture and make comment on the benefits this community holds over traditional notions of community e.g. communities reliant on geographic proximity The benefits of using this site is the speed at which information can be shared by members and other interested parties. People can access information quickly no matter where they are and decide if they want to use the information without wasting time, money or energy.

Consider material presented during the lecture and make comment what this community lacks or can not provide which traditional communities can. The only other form of communication is word of mouth amongst its members and participants. Without online access information is extremely limited. There are no means for physical newsletters. The site is reliant on members contributing and maintaining it.