Computer networks have become a public medium in which millions of ordinary people participate. Their human significance is emerging gradually out of a variety of practices reflecting different understandings of "appropriate use." In this process, users creatively invent the computer as a medium, not necessarily confined to the norms and functions embodied in the technology by its designers, nor simply reproducing practices originating in their face-to-face experience. Among the many types of social behavior on computer networks the formation of community, a fundamental human value, is particularly significant for ethical inquiry. From the beginning of computer networking, supporters have promised that it would enhance community and extend it globally, while critics have contended that it is destructive of real community. This pilot project tests the viability of an on-line approach to explore the ethical dimensions of community on computer networks. It focuses on three central questions: (1) How familiar moral concepts are reconstructed as the basis of online community in the unusual network environment. (2) How experiences with computer networks relate to the everyday lives of users. (3) What technical features and designs of computer networks need to be modified, eliminated or introduced in order to support and facilitate the activities and values identified in (1) and (2) This research can enrich the existing tradition of online community studies by addressing ethical issues raised in the critiques of cyberspace. and by exploring the links between "virtual" and " real world" practices. It will look for connections between norms of sociability established in virtual communities and values held by participating members in their "real worlds," and ways in which computer network technology can be reformed to better serve the goal of community. The research methodology includes observation and discourse analysis of the verbal interactions in virtual communities; and electronic interviews with participants. Two communities will be selected from those formed around significant shared needs and interests or collective action - for example: learning groups, self-help groups, political activist groups. The criterion for selection will be the extent to which the online participation can be expected to make a difference in the lives of the community members. The focus will be on the mechanisms for establishing shared norms and values, with a view to identifying the ethical underpinning of the new forms of sociability emerging on the Internet. The sample of individuals to be studied will comprise online-community members who agree to the study. In the interviews with these respondents, the goal will be to understand what participation in virtual communities means to them as well as how it fits into the larger picture of their everyday life. Relationships between the technical structure of computer networks and the ethical quality of the human interactions they support will be studied in the data collection and ethical analysis. The results of the pilot project will be reported in an article or edited volume; the final report to NSF will address the ethical and methodological issues arising from on-line research, and consider whether further research would be useful.
