Sociability from the perspective of cultural diversity in virtual communities of practice

Abstract

Virtual Communities of Practice (VCoPs) create spaces for collaboration that provide communication and interaction between individuals, so that knowledge and experiences are shared. Collaboration is a significant tool for building knowledge around a domain. In this sense, a significant effort has been expended to discover guidelines that it allows to facilitate the collaboration. A significant aspect of collaboration is the sociability, since it refers to how people interact in an environment. In VCoPs the aspects of sociability and interactivity are significant for achieving the objectives of the collaboration. However, we must consider that people have cultural differences, and it sometimes impose conditions that prevent the access and inclusion of some people in virtual environments of collaboration. Thus, in this work, is proposed a heuristic to evaluate how sociability is treated in VCops, with emphasis on cultural diversity aspects. The proposed heuristic was applied in the evaluation of some VCoPs. The results support the proposal of guidelines for the treatment of cultural diversity, seeking to assist specialists to plan and create environment interfaces that allow to promote sociability effectively and satisfactorily.