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Communities in Cyberspace, edited by Marc A. Smith and Peter Kollock. New York & London: Routledge, 1999. 323 pp. NPL cloth. ISBN: 0-415-19139-4. $24.99 paper. ISBN: 0-- 415-19140-8.
This edited collection joins many other recent ones focused on the patterns of social interaction and organization in cyberspace. The basic question this volume addresses is the same one that the other books on this topic examine: How are social action and organization different in cyberspace from those in other settings? Fortunately, this is the only similarity between this volume and almost all previous ones on the topic. Unlike the others, this one includes chapters by scholars who are more than armchair theorists. The contributors cite data, interpret them in conceptually interesting ways, and emphasize that empirical studies of social interaction in cyberspace produce theoretical conclusions that can extend our understanding of interaction in more traditional settings. The case studies presented here focus on text-based social systems, which have a longer history, are richer, and are more diverse than the newer graphical spaces. Despite this limitation of coverage, I would recommend that people who intend to read just one book on this topic choose this one.
Unlike the introductory chapters of many edited collections, the one in this volume comprehensively but concisely outlines the key issues in the field and foreshadows the theoretical and substantive content of the rest of the book. The co-editors did such a good job on the introductory chapter that I...