Research published in Feb 2007′s Computer Standards & Interfaces shows more ideas are generated by virtual teams when using IM than when using email – or at least that’s what the abstract says.

but when you read the article, you realise the research (subjects = grad biz students) really showed one extra idea for IM than with email which suggests IM might be more beneficial than email for idea generation. not a very strong result.

there wasn’t any significant difference btwn the task satisfaction of the 2 groups, nor was there any difference in ‘user playfulness’. hence IM can be used as a serious business tool and people are satisfied with both options. that’s good information but i hesitate to say IM is better for idea generation than email just based on this research.

article details:
An exploratory investigation of two internet-based communication modes
Albert H. Huanga, Shin-Yuan Hungb and David C. Yenc

Abstract
Instant messaging (IM) was first introduced in the late 1990s. It has a relatively short history of adoption compared to other electronic media such as e-mail. In the first few years, the majority of IM users were teenagers. Only a relatively small portion of adult Internet users used IM. Recently as the young IM users gradually enter the workforce, an increasing popularity of IM among working professionals is expected. Consequently, the use of IM in the workplace for job-related task becomes more likely. The potential impact of IM will also become a more important organizational issue. This study compares the use of IM versus e-mail as the communication tool to facilitate group task for geographically dispersed teams. An experiment using 44 teams in the United States was conducted. The results show that teams using e-mail are more effective in terms of generating ideas than teams using IM. There are no significance differences between the two communication methods, in terms of task difficulty, playfulness, and ease of use.

the bbc is reporting on a survey which sez our virtual friends are as important as our f2f friends. the survey from the center for the digital future found 43% of people involved in an online community felt ‘as strongly’ about their web community as their f2f ones. btw, this is the 6th year of the survey & only surveyed americans.

other findings:

20.3% took actions at least once a year in the offline world which related to their online community

56.6% login to their community at least once a day

70.4% say they interact with others in their community (i would love to see how they defined this considering our 90/9/1 ratio and the amount of lurkers in communities)

social activism thrives in the online world. 64.9% say they are involved now in causes that were new to them when they first went online. 43.7% say they participate more now in social activism since they started participating in their online community.

more people contribute to the net. 7.4% have a blog (up form 2.3% in 2003), 23.6% post photos online, 12.5% maintain their own website.

they made an avg of 4.6 friends online & 1.6 of those online friends they have met f2f

fyi, u can order the full report for U$500 (indiv use)

a study out of the university of missouri-columbia’s school of journalism has found users prefer to have messages moderated in communities/boards.

they have also found people are more likely to contribute if the following are present:
- moderators (so conversations won’t get out of control or get nasty)
- interactive messages (ie comments get commented on)
- messages posted at a slower rate (so there’s not the feeling they need to respond right away before the topic gets lost by another topic. they can take their time replying)

while the study looked at ‘participation intent’ and not real participation, i would agree with their findings. moderators are usually not appreciated until there is a need for them, people always like to be acknowledged and speed isn’t always a good thing. the study looked at website community participation but i think it also applies in a work atmosphere on blogs, wikis or any collaborative space.

there’s good details on the research at the uni’s site and the study has been published in the journal of cmc: article here.

A review of research methods for assessing content of computer-mediated discussion forums Journal of Interactive Learning Research | Date: September 22, 2006 | Author: Marra, Rose

Computer-mediated communication (CMC) technologies are becoming increasingly important components of online educational environments (Romiszowski & Mason, 2004). The online discussion forum that is a significant component of many web-based courses is one type of CMC. Instructors and students rely on these asynchronous forums to engage one another in ways that replace face-to-face communication. The goal of such interactions is to promote critical thinking, meaningful problem solving, and knowledge construction (Kirschner, Strijbos, Kreijns, & Beers, 2004). In spite of the …

9th International GOR Conference -GENERAL ONLINE RESEARCH ’07
March, 26-28,2007 at University of Leipzig, German
http://www.gor.de

Conference topics include theories, methods, and findings concerning social and business aspects of the Internet and mobile communication. The aim of the conference is to document the progress of Internet science, innovative developments, and practical experience.

Paper presentations, roundtable presentations, posters, and sessions can be proposed on the following topics: (i’ve shortened this list so see their site for more details)

A: The Internet as a Research Tool (Online Market Research and Social Research, Methods’ Effects of Online Data Collection, Mobile Data Collection, Statistical Biases in Online Sampling, Best Practice Examples, Innovative Data Collection Tools, Online Access Panels, Quality Standards, Data Mining, Online Experiments, Mixed Mode Studies)

B: The Internet Measured (Indices of the Digital Divide(s) and Digital Inequality, Use of Logfiles and Databases, Indices of the Information Society, Measurement of Range of Coverage, Measurement of Online Social Networks, Diffusion of Visual Online & Mobile Communication)

C: The Internet in its Context(Internet, Mobile Communication, and Civil Society, Online Groups & Online Communities, Social Networks and Relationships Online & Offline, Digital Inequality, Democracy, Internet, Social Movements, and Collective Action, Internet & Science, Electronic & Mobile Business, E-Business, Evaluation of Web-Sites and E-Commerce, Mobile Commerce, Electronic Customer Relationship Management, Internet & Mobile Communication in Everyday Life, E- & M-Learning, New Forms and Formats: Internet-TV, Blogs, Podcasts, RSS etc., Internet & Mobile Communication in Organizations, Virtual Teams & Online Communities of Practice, Internet and Journalism, Search Engines, Search Strategies, and Social Outcomes,
Semantic Webs and Topic Maps, Digital Censorship)

If you would like to contribute to the conference by presenting a paper, roundtable report, a poster, or a complete session please submit (an) abstract(s) electronically no later than: September 30th 2006 to: http://www.gor.de