The Psychology of Online Sociability: Theory and Examples

Abstract

In this chapter, I will review current approaches to online sociability and present and exemplify the psychological social reality theory of online sociability. By analyzing sociability in a university-level virtual world course, I will present and analyze examples on how to understand the students’ design of conditions for sociability as communication of cultural symbols, such as avatars and virtual landscapes, and the social reality of perceived groups of people. The results of the analysis will be used to illustrate different kinds of online sociability: super?cial, convivial, and negative sociability. The chapter suggests solutions and recommendations to designers and researchers with a focus on online communities and networked communication.