Interaction Patterns in Web-based Knowledge Communities: Two-Mode Network Approach

The importance of web-based knowledge communities (WKCs) in the 'network society' is growing. This trend is seen in many disciplines, like education, government, finance and other profit- and non-profit organisations. There is a need for understanding the development of these online communities in order to steer it and to affect the impact it has. In this research, we aimed to identify interaction patterns in these communities to visualize and understand community developments, and show the relevance of WKCs for the development of learning education. We conducted a content analysis and a network analysis on big social data to identify the patterns in two Facebook-groups which were focused on educational development. Analysis of interaction patterns enabled us to identify three interaction stages within WKCs in educational settings: introduction, evolution and maturity. In the first stage, participants mainly introduce themselves. In the second stage, one shares information and in the final stage, participants are more open to share their opinions. The study shows that our network analysis approach is appropriate to analyse and visualize the development of interaction patterns and the results could help us to steer communities effectively and efficiently