Chapter 8 - The Dynamics of Groups Online

Chapter Summary

  • This chapter outlines how online groups form and regulate themselves.
  • It examines the dynamics of online groups compared to their offline counterparts.

Why do individuals join online groups?

  • It may be an attractive option for many individuals, especially in today’s digital and social media age.
  • Online groups may meet specific group members’ social needs of belonging and acceptance.
  • Motivations for why individuals are attracted to online groups may include:
    • the need to alleviate loneliness;
    • the attraction of the relative anonymity that online group membership can afford members;
    • the ability to control the types and extent of self-disclosures that group members make to their fellow group members online;
    • the opportunity to communicate remotely, provided the necessary technology and usability skills are acquired;
    • the opportunity to interact with other individuals with ‘special’ interests;
    • the opportunity to present a ‘version’ of the self.

How do people behave in online groups?

  • The characteristics of groups, such as group roles (formal and informal), and norms (the rules of the group) are evident in online groups, similar to their offline counterparts.
  • Cohesion (related to task and social factors) is present in online groups.
  • Collective identity (which describes how people are similar to each other, when the psychological connection between the individual self and the social group the individual is a member of is considered), and group identity (which describes the common characteristics and common goals, similar beliefs and standards that often exist between group members) are features of online groups.

Positive consequences of online group membership

  • Positive consequences of online group membership do appear to exist, such as their provision of an environment in which socially shy and anxious members can, in their view, safely interact.

Negative consequences of online group membership

  • The negative phenomenon, groupthink, defined as ‘the tendency for cohesive groups to become so concerned about group consolidation that they fail to critically and realistically evaluate their decisions and antecedent assumptions’ (Park, 1990, p. 229), can occur online, similar to how it occurs offline.
  • Social loafing, defined as the reduction in effort exerted by some individuals when they are performing a task as part of a group, compared to completing the task alone, can be seen in members’ behaviour online also.
  • Other negative consequences of online group membership for individuals, such as the impact of membership on their mental well-being, due from an over-reliance on online group interactions are also highlighted in this chapter.
  • The impact of membership on the self-esteem and social skills of group members has also been the focus of research in recent times.

Future directions

  • Some suggestions for exciting future research directions in this area of group behaviour online are proposed in the final section of the chapter.
  • The suggestions of Howard (2014), regarding more investigations of the types of online groups, currently categorised as support groups (i.e. health-related support groups), avocation groups (i.e. fan-based groups for popular media characters such as Harry Potter) and stigmatised groups (i.e. Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender (LGBT) groups) are suggested.

Further Reading

This paper by Vladlena Benson, George Saridakis and Hemamali Tennakoon sets out to examine the uses of social networking sites among university students, in order to determine if such groups are more or less likely to suffer adverse effects from engaging with such new networks. The references listed in the paper also provide some good sources of additional reading for individuals wishing to learn more about this area of group behaviour online.

  • Benson, V., Saridakis, G. & Tennakoon, H. (2014). Purpose of social networking use and victimisation: Are there any differences between university students and those not in HE? Computers in Human Behaviour. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2014.11.034

This is a PowerPoint presentation, from Stevens Institute of Technology, which details material on ‘Group identity, culture and collective intelligence’.

This is a PowerPoint presentation, from Paul Adams on ‘Bridging the gap between our online and offline social networks’.

Audio and Video links

Audio links

This Web link details the six best online communities for podcasters.

This special online collection focuses on social cognition and includes a podcast segment on related issues.

Video links

In this 18-minute TED Talk entitled ‘A year offline, what have I learned?’, Paul Miller, an American technology journalist, describes his experiences during a year of his life that he spent completely offline.

This is 20-minute TED Talk, entitled ‘Connected, but alone’, presented by Sherry Turkle. Turkle is an Abby Rockefeller Mauzé Professor of the Social Studies of Science and Technology, in the Program in Science, Technology, and Society at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). In this talk, Turkle outlines some difficulties experienced by individuals who exhibit an over-reliance on technology as a means of communication. Turkle also speaks about the impact such communication may have on individuals’ social bonds and real life community connections.

Useful websites

This link, from the Social Psychology Network, lists some good resources on ‘The ‘Self, Social Identity and Group Behaviour’.

This older Web link, from 1996, details how social psychology principles can be applied to online groups and communities. It allows readers to make comparisons between the 1990s and the present day, to see how technology developments and changes in opinions have occurred over the intervening, nearly twenty years, since the online publication of Psychology of Cyberspace by John Suler.

Multiple Choice Questions

Essay Questions

  1. Explain the terms ‘group identity’, ‘social identity’ and ‘social loafing’ as they relate to groups online.
  2. Discuss the increasing use of the Internet as a source of social support for individuals.
  3. Outline the dangers of an over-reliance on social networks, such as Facebook, Twitter and chat-rooms, for primary social support.
  4. Discuss the impact of individuals experimenting with their social identity online, both for the individual and the group as a whole.