Regulating the Webheads

A very interesting and
comprehensive article Erika. I like the fact that you include explanations of
the concepts we are working with, but also keep them brief so the emphasis
remains on what you found in your community.

I was intrigued that 'social
loafing' was an active phenomenon in the BaW community, especially given our
increasing understanding of attention as a limited resource. I almost wonder if
we need a new term here, one that would also refer to an 'unfair' use of a
community's resources, but which would better reflect this more active version
of it than the word 'loafing' does. It was also interesting to see the
moderators suggesting that newbies *should* be loafers until they have a better
sense of the community's shared repertoire. Is there a useful link here between
social loafing and our earlier readings (Oldenberg, Kim, etc) about the life
cycle of members?

I did have a question about
the lack of "reifications of the past behavior of members." If "all
traces of community participation are recorded and archived" then it would
seem that these records constitute potential reifications. For example, two new
members may draw different conclusions from their reviews of one established
member's traces on the blog, wiki, message board, etc. That raises the
possibility of a negotiation between their different conclusions, and those of
other members, and therefore, these traces could constitute 'points of focus.'

Another interesting aspect of
the BaW community is the possible tension between the informal, even 'playful,'
tone of the member's interactions and the fact that they have all registered
under their real names as EFL/ESL professionals. As you note, in a situation
like this, anti-social or inconsiderate behavior could have professional consequences.
I wonder if the directors have particular strategies for preventing this
potential chilling effect from undermining the "playful, low pressure
atmosphere"?