Physical community cohesion model: In transition to virtual community cohesion measurement

Abstract

Community cohesion is a very broad concept which means either the process or the state in which a better relationship is established or encouraged between people of different backgrounds, not only in the physical community, but also in the virtual community. The dramatic increase in the number of social media users, especially Facebook, provides some indication that in the lives of many people, virtual community is very vital. If it can be used as a platform for nurturing or inculcating community cohesion, the benefits of virtual community can be further exploited. Somehow a model to measure community cohesion is yet to be devised. Hence, this paper aims to present the transition of the physical to virtual community cohesion model. This process began with the development of the cohesion model of the physical community. Next, the model was reviewed against the virtual community characteristics to determine its relevance for measuring virtual community cohesion. The findings suggest that of the nine physical community cohesion constructs found for the model, only eight are pertinent to virtual community.