Global Village or Cyber-Balkans? Modeling and Measuring the Integration of Electronic Communities
定义了信息整合的精确度量，并构建个人知识档案与社区归属模型，分析改进的访问、搜索和筛选功能在何种条件下会整合或碎片化互动，指出偏好而非地理或技术成为社区边界的关键决定因素。
Information technology can link geographically separated people and help them locate interesting or useful resources. These attributes have the potential to bridge gaps and unite communities. Paradoxically, they also have the potential to fragment interaction and divide groups. Advances in technology can make it easier for people to spend more time on special interests and to screen out unwanted contact. Geographic boundaries can thus be supplanted by boundaries on other dimensions. This paper formally defines a precise set of measures of information integration and develops a model of individual knowledge profiles and community affiliation. These factors suggest specific conditions under which improved access, search, and screening can either integrate or fragment interaction on various dimensions. As IT capabilities continue to improve, preferences—not geography or technology—become the key determinants of community boundaries.