“Friends and followers”: the social organisation of firms’ online communities

Ad van Iterson, Johanna Richter

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingChapterAcademic

Abstract

Business managers are recognising the potential of firm-initiated online communities to monitor user preferences, enhance brand awareness, advertise new products, and react to feedback. We explore the social organisation of such virtual communities via in-depth interviews with German online community managers about their daily work and their self-presentation. Norbert Elias's insights into long-term changes in self-constraint and self-expression in occidental societies serve as heuristic framework. We argue that online community managers' behaviour is typical of the trend towards informalisation, which can also be observed in for-profit relations.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationThe Social Organisation of Marketing
Subtitle of host publicationA Figurational Approach to People, Organisations, and Markets
EditorsJohn Connolly, Paddy Dolan
Place of PublicationLondon
PublisherPalgrave
Pages171-192
ISBN (Print)978-3-319-51570-0
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2017

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