Virtual communities: Emerging dynamics of social participation and learning among youth

Abstract

This paper presents the results of a research project on youth learning through social participation in virtual communities. The project was organized in three phases: (1) detection and mapping of virtual communities with high participation of young people between 15 and 29 years old; (2) selection and in-depth study of 7 virtual communities; and (3) creation and distribution of an online questionnaire to calibrate the extension of the phenomenon. The project started with an intentional sampling of 24 virtual communities with high youth participation, which allowed to categorize the particularities of these communities. Building from the results of the first phase of the research, seven case studies were implemented in each community, doing 2-4 semi-structured interviews to the participants and collecting evidences through observations in the virtual environments. The results are presented in this article, specially focusing on four categories: interest to participate, participatory culture, learning dynamics and knowledge expansion. The discussion presents expose how virtual communities have became one of the quotidian contexts of young people, broading their opportunities to learn.