Analyzing the PVCs Documents: A Multimodal Rate-based Approach to Understand Community’s Goals and Values

Abstract

IntroductionThe emergence of professional virtual communities (PVCs) has provided a solution, new ways and techniques into knowledge management and sharing both in organization and professional settings. Rapid growth and extensive exchange of information and knowledge through different kinds of virtual communities has provide a whole new world of professional development and growth. Community members share their ideas, thoughts and solutions, solve professional problems, improve individual skills, search for a cooperation and create innovations. But here is a question: do the members of these communities use the community only as a professional guide in their field, or there are other goals and interests, which help the community to function and develop? To find the answer, we need to look closely to the both external and internal structure of community communication, and first of all -what are the communities main goals in values in terms of user's choice of topics and what "secret rules" they use to communicate to each other and to foster the sense of community shared between the members.