A conceptual model to design partially virtual communities

Today, millions of users around the world log into Web platforms to participate in online communities. Some of these communities group people that interact frequently in a face-to-face manner, such as the community of a course or a neighborhood. These communities are partially virtual because their members interact through both, a physical and a virtual space. These partially virtual communities have particular features and needs, and to the best of our knowledge, there are no guidelines concerning their modeling and evolution. This paper addresses the challenge of supporting the design of partially virtual communities. In particular, the article proposes a conceptual model to help design these communities, based on a literature review, a previous field study and the authors´ experience. This model is expected to help designers and community managers establish the basis for developing and maintaining sustainable communities in order to ensure a certain level of activity through time.