Encouraging residents to take social ownership of an online community network through PAD: Participation, Animation, Design

Abstract

Online community networks are designed to supplement residential communities in an effort to revitalise and grow neighbourhoods, but they are challenged in times of networked individualism. Recent research has shown that (a) connectivity alone does not ensure community, and (b) new and weak communities do not benefit from community networks as much as existing and strong communities do. This paper proposes a model combining Participation, Animation and Design (PAD) to encourage residents to take social ownership of the community network. The aim is to support personalised networking and to create intrinsic motivation for residents to realise that their engagement in the community network is not additional work, but a way to improve their quality of life by establishing a community culture and community identity. The proposed model integrates systems design with community development and is currently being implemented and tested in an apartment complex comprising approximately 160 tenants in Brisbane, Australia.