IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - Spring 2014 - 68

through customized personal profiles [6], [14]. Such profiles reflect
self-presentational behaviors as
members share personal information and upload it for contacting
purposes, whether via their online
profiles on a one-to-one basis
(much like an email), or in a more
public and multi-lateral manner.

Ethnographic Analysis
The employed methodological strategy in this interpretive research is
ethnography given its fit to provide
descriptions and a depth of understanding of a human society, community, or culture. Hammersley and
Atkinson [17] define ethnography
as "a descriptive account of a community or culture." Ethnography can
also be described as observational
investigation that refers to fieldwork
conducted by investigators who live
with and live like those who are
studied. Given that this research
is examining communities within
SNS from a social and cultral standpoint, ethnography seems to be
fitting [11], [18]. Indeed, using ethnography to examine online communities is common within the IS
research (e.g., [13], [29], [34]).
The community examined in
this research is Bebo (i.e., "Blog
Early, Blog Often") social networking platform. Although Bebo was
established just in 2005, the number of its users exceeds 40 million
members world-wide. This however makes it one of the largest and
fastest growing social networks. It
is a digitally engaged community
consisting of over (80) groups, subgroups, and sub sub-groups. Each
group serves certain social and
other needs including but not limited to mental and other health support, crime prevention, social care,
and music and talents share.
Given that this study takes place
in a digital community, ethnography
here is referred to as "online ethnography" (e.g., [11]), or "virtual
ethnography" (e.g., [18]). Following online ethnography, the authors
were taking more of participative
68

roles rather than observing, where
more engagement took place in
the virtual space. Authors otherwise referred to as ethnographers,
lived among Bebo users for over 18
months, and participated in daily
activities while maintaining objectivity. In this ethnographic study, the
primary source of data is through
participant observations, as this is
regarded a core ethnographic technique where researchers participate
in observing the behavior under
examination without influencing its
patterns [27]. That is direct, firsthand observation of members' daily
behaviors including informal conversations and long-term engagement where (1114) messages out of
(12) sub-groups were analyzed following content analysis techniques
(see [1]).

Value Creation and
Capturing
Digitally engaged communities
cannot survive without user involvement and participation in terms of
generating content and social interacting. Indeed, DECs need members
if they are to be successful. What are
most important are the value elements the community offers. These
value elements are created and
exchanged by the community's own
users. For the past couple of years,
millions of people have turned daily
to DECs for diverse informationseeking and other communication
activities. A great number of users,
however, appeared to be passive
information consumers [15], [37]
without any active involvment. Over
time, many of those would assume
an additional role and become active
content contributors, and thus add
value to the community they are
engaging in [16].
Behind any level of digital
participation, there are numerous classes of value elements
exchanged among users. As DECs
offer a wide range of publicly
transferred benefits, people join
them to fulfil personal needs,
whether individually-oriented or

community-oriented. Therefore,
participation seems to be purposive, but the level of involvement
varies depending on the purpose
behind joining them. Therfore, we
postulate that the successful operation of any DEC depends to a large
extent on its growing value elements communicated to and by its
own users. Our ethnographic analysis reveals that value in DECs can
be classified as: Social, Hedonic,
Epistemic, Gift, and Utilitarian
value elements.

Social Value
Social value is one of the most
important values captured in DECs
[6]. It concerns the utility derived
from user's association with certain social groups, and eventually
could be broken down into Emotional, Networking, Self-Esteem,
and Self-Discovery needs. These
needs however are maintained
through the interpersonal relationships among interactants.
Many individuals join online
networks desperately seeking for
Emotional support in different
aspects of life. Calls could be for
help and advice in health issues
(e.g., Bebo/Bewell), mental conflicts (e.g., the Samaritans), and
decisional support matters (e.g.,
Bebo/Beenriched). Such users
might lack the opportunity of getting this support in real life, and
somehow been dragged into isolation [26]. Therefore, they are
encouraged into finding an accessible substitute. The anonymity in
these communities also increases
the calls for community assistance,
as social value seekers are offered
opportunities to receive emotional
support in a climate of trust and
empathy [21].
The value of Networking is
another goal for many social networking sites. Interactants tend to
bond and maintain relationships
by engaging in such digital communities. It can be described as
the process by which members act
toward or respond to one another,

IEEE TECHNOLOGY AND SOCIETY MAGAZINE

SprING 2014

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