Tutorial Six: The internet and online communities

The community I am investigating is Trademe (www.trademe.co.nz). The focus of this community is buying and selling both new and second-hand products to online buyers. It is an internet auction website, with things selling with an auction system with online bidding, or buyers can "buy now" if the seller has listed that as an option. That means the buyer gets the product for a pre-agreed price, rather than bidding at the auction.

People can communicate on this website by using the general message board. Here, members can ask questions and seek advice. It is community moderated, which means that any posts which are considered offensive by other members of the community can be voted off. Potential buyers can also communicate with sellers on the page of the item being sold.

On this online community, people are seeking to buy and sell items online. There is communication between potential buyers and sellers. Members choose to contribute to this website because it is often a more convenient way of shopping and selling unwanted items, as items are purchased online, then posted to an address of the buyers choice.

Below is an example to some of the topics discussed on the general notice board. This one is where to get your stamp collections valued.

stamp collections...where to get valued??

• in northland???would love to get it valued and possibly sell it...who/where do i go to get it valued in northland?? prefer the far north if possible...thanks

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  turkey_foot (946 ) 8:07 pm, Fri 19 Mar #1

• Also in Wanganui.Have been left all my Dads collection and have no idea what to do with them, thanks.

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  knitwit4 (2393 ) 9:38 am, Tue 23 Mar #2

• try whangarei stamp club-if not in yellow pages--council or similar should know

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  donaldo (2530 ) 11:08 am, Tue 23 Mar #3

With this online community, as with any, there are some potential ethical issues. People may sell things that don't belong to them. Also, sellers must be accountable for reporting accurate information on the product they are selling. Because of the lack of identity, both of these scenarios are possible, but trademe attempts to solve this by giving buyers the opportunity to write feedback about the sellers and the products thay have bought. This is an attempt to enforce accountability.

Some of the benefits this community has over traditional buying and selling is that one does not have to be geographically close to the seller to buy an item. A photo of the item can be posted for buyers to look at, then the item can be posted to a location of the buyer's choice. People can both buy and sell items without leaving the comfort of their own home. This is very beneficial for people with mobility issues, or other factors that make it difficult to leave the house frequently and for long periods of time.

Because of the possible geographical difference between buyer and seller, along with the anonymity of both, buyers cannot physically inspect the item they are purchasing, so are relying on the seller being accountable for their product. This community also lacks face-to-face interaction, but attempts to make communication possiblle by providing a general message board