Virtual Communities and User Participation

Information system is the extension of human society in the digital world. Technology is largely defined by the person using it, and this revelation rapidly grew alongside with the proliferation of personal computers in our daily life. Information system has long exceeded the function as a point-to-point communication tool, and becomes a vibrant social platform that carries contents created by individual users and facilitates sophisticated social interactions between large groups of people. The ability for users to mold and shape this process to customize their virtual experience also affects other users [1, 2]. A fundamental assumption of contemporary group research is that individual attitudes and behavior is affected by group context influences, even though other members may not be physically present [3].