Interaction Dynamics in an Online Community: a Longitudinal Analysis of Communication Genres

The growth of online communities has created borderless and virtual spaces where geographically dispersed consumers can participate in informational and commercial exchanges. While the importance of these communities is undeniable, consumer researchers, public policy makers and marketers do not have a full understanding of the relationship dynamics in these communities. This article departs from traditional life-cycle community development models, by using rhetorical genres repertoire as an analytic apparatus for investigating online communities' dynamics. In this nethnography, we analyzed the discourse of bulletin boards hosted at BabyCenter.com. Our findings show how periods in the life of a community correspond with changes in the nature and expression of specific communicative genres, themselves a consequence of members' contrasting struggle between community involvement and personal independence. [to cite]