As happens in real life, virtual communities also have hierarchies aimed at ensuring all activities carried out within the communities themselves.
A very “crowded” virtual community entails a considerable expenditure of energy and resources compared to a highly targeted one or one with less traffic. Within communities, there is a true hierarchy composed of various important figures responsible for the growth and control of the community itself. Each virtual community has analogies but also proper differences from others. In Atlantide, for example, you can move from being simple visitors of the virtual community to motivated animators. A virtual community consists of “new members” who represent the most recent arrivals, the “leaders” who are the organizers of the community, and finally the “staff” composed of the most senior members.
New Members
As can be understood, new arrivals are the novices of the community. Even if they are professionals or experts, new members are completely unknown at the moment of initiation into the community and, therefore, must first demonstrate their abilities to move up in “role” and be considered authoritative members within the community itself. The curriculum, at least in the initial phase, has no validity for new arrivals. Ami Jo Kim, founder of Naima, a company specialized in creating virtual communities, summarizes in 5 points the stages of a community member. However, the new member is already at a higher step than the starting point having decided to join the community and, therefore, having ceased to be a mere visitor. Not everyone who finds themselves by chance or curiosity inside a site ends up becoming a member of the associated virtual community. Those who do not participate in community life but observe what happens within it are called “lurkers.” Indeed, in jargon, to lurk means to observe the community without participating. Therefore, a newcomer in a community can be said to have surpassed this “limbo” phase and, although currently at the lowest step, is an active member of the virtual community.
Leadership
Leaders represent the lifeblood of a virtual community. Without these “charismatic” figures, a virtual community can hardly succeed and have a long “life.” In fact, it is the leaders who usually welcome new members, organize community life, take interest in events, and keep the dialogue alive. The abilities of leaders are one of the secrets of a virtual community’s success.
How to recognize a leader
It may seem strange, but it is not difficult to understand who the leader of a virtual community is. It’s true, in a “real” community you understand a leader by their way of presenting themselves and dressing. But virtual communities, in most cases, do not give the possibility to “see” who you are talking to at that moment. In short, they are closed boxes but not therefore constantly surprising. For this reason, a leadership program is essential when building a community. It is important that such programming presupposes gradual growth of leadership following the growth of the community itself. In some virtual realities, it may happen that the oldest members take leadership in certain situations. This should not be seen negatively. On the contrary! In other communities, leadership may belong to the staff themselves, and so there is no distinction between leader and staff.
The Staff
The staff consists of the persons responsible for the community or the entire site. It can be made up of one or more people depending on the size of the virtual community. The Staff should not be confused with the “elder,” as identified in the hierarchy by Ami Jo Kim. Elders are those who have been in the community the longest and are true activists to the extent that they are considered experts by community members themselves. Ami Jo Kim places elders at the top of the hierarchical scale of a virtual community, whereas we believe that if the community is viewed as a whole, its apex remains, always and only, the community’s founders, i.e., the “staff.” It is also true that sometimes when a virtual community loses a charismatic figure (such as an elder), it seems as if the community itself dies. For example, we recall an episode that happened in a newsgroup (more on this topic later) spontaneously created by Napoli Calcio fans. Even though the team was not in “good shape,” this community of fans (linked by the same motivation) represents the lifeblood for those wanting to keep up with news from the team itself also because the club itself struggles considerably to disseminate news.
During the 1999/2000 football season, there was a character in the newsgroup whose nick (and signature) was “la Seccia.” That Naples is a city where superstition is common goes without saying, but it is also true that elsewhere, especially in the world of sports, superstition is widespread. This character always appeared before a match and sarcastically wrote that Napoli would lose and stay in Serie B (or similar). In short, he wrote everything that no group member liked to hear or read. Despite this, the character was considered a true lucky charm to the point that before any match, especially important ones, his name was invoked by all. That season Napoli was promoted to Serie A, but during the entire campaign, nothing more was heard about “la Seccia.” Although often mentioned and some repeatedly begged for his return, nothing more was heard from him. Needless to say, Napoli returned to Serie B (frankly, we think the absence of la Seccia was not the reason for that) and even today his name is remembered by the older members of the newsgroup. What we can say, however, is that “la Seccia” became (perhaps unwillingly) an important piece for the virtual community of the Napoli fans.
The Moderators
The moderators of a virtual community are the so-called “peacemakers,” i.e., those tasked with preventing some members from degenerating the “conversations.” They are very important within forums that deal with important topics and within significant newsgroups. Moderators can be distinct figures from the staff and the leaders. They have great value in newsgroups as they filter out spamming and inappropriate messages.
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