Different locations, new economical and ecological awareness and the steadily growing possibilities of web and mobile technologies have fundamentally changed many fields of work. Private communication changes as well and reaches more recipients than ever, due to the evolution of terminal devices and Web 2.0.

In times of the knowledge-based society, efficient solutions for collaboration and the exchange of knowledge are always sought-after, which can live up to the amount of senders, recipients and information.

Real people must be projected virtual with their, capabilities, interests, roles or group memberships to take part in the exchange of knowledge and effort – in online communities.

Users form an online community of interest via the Internet. The communities live on user-generated contents, which are stored and connected in various infrastructures.

Apart from common message boards, the term is mainly associated with social networks like Facebook or Twitter today, which partially overlap in their functionality. They form a mix of communication tools, which are used by private users as well as companies for their purposes.

Professional examples for online communities are collaboration platforms like the Wiki systems or Microsoft’s SharePoint Services, which enable businesses to document and manage their knowledge and projects.