Power Relations in Cyber Communities

Peoples’ need to socialise with others and greed for power can be best captured with Aristotle\u27s famous description of human beings as “political animals”/”social animals”. It is interesting to watch how cyber communities, such as Web-based forums and mailing lists, manifest themselves through social interactions and shared values, membership and friendship, and commitments and loyalty. It is important to examine how power relations in these communities are formed, exercised and evolve dynamically. This paper explores power relations as they emerge in two online communities and suggests a new understanding of the formation and evolution of power in virtual societies