Measuring the Maturity Level of a Community Portal

Abstract

Social interaction is a fundamental to human beings. In an effort to facilitate social interaction, various tools and technologies have been designed and developed over the centuries to connect people and create better means of communication. Most recently, this effort has been directed at facilitating the interaction of communities that share a common purpose or interest. These communities are diverse and often involve individuals or groups that are not situated in the same physical context. The World Wide Web (WWW) has become an important tool in facilitating the interaction and communication between such communities. This is evident in the large number of online community Web sites, portals and forums that have proliferated in the last decade. These Web-based tools provide communities with an online space to exchange information, share stories and experiences, solve problems, discuss issues, and socialise regardless of their location. Portals, in particular, have become the most widely used interface for online communities to meet and interact (Lacher et al., 2001).