Week Four - Topic 1b: Virtual Settlement Concept

Is the ‘virtual settlement’ a useful concept? Why?

Blanchard reading

The ‘virtual settlement’ concept was proposed by Jones (1997). He describes it as the place in which people interact and suggests that it can be understood by looking at the artifacts: its postings, structure and content.
Jones states that a virtual settlement is present when “a) a minimal number of b) public interactions c) with a variety of communicators in which d) there is a minimal level of sustained membership over a period of time”. It is the relationships within the virtual settlements which can be said to be the difference between a community and a standard group.
I think that this concept can be useful when comparing communities and groups because I agree that for a group to be given the title of community, the factors that Jones proposes should be present. However, it is very similar to Blanchard and Markus’ (2003) proposal of ‘sense of community’. I think that the ‘sense of community’ notion is more valid as I prefer the idea of having an emotional connection and a feeling of membership when describing a community. Jones’ proposal, although a useful concept, I feel lacks detail about the relationships that need to be involved in order to have a community.