Preece, Jenny. "Online Communities: researching sociability and usability in hard to reach populations." Australasian Journal of Information Systems 11.2 (2004).

This paper delves into the dynamics of online communities facilitated by various ICTs, like list servers, blogs, and social networking platforms. It highlights the complexity of factors contributing to the success of these communities, underscoring the interplay between software usability and social influences. The difficulty in establishing direct cause-and-effect relationships and the multidisciplinary nature of online community research are discussed. Two research projects are presented: one exploring reasons behind lurking behavior in online discussions, and another developing cross-cultural online book communities for children who speak different languages. Key findings from these projects offer insights into engaging with hard-to-reach community populations.