Investigating Sense of Community Through Blended Space

Abstract:
"The pervasive integration of digital technologies into everyday life has led to the establishment of a blended space where all individual interactions take place. Among these interactions, social interactions play a notable role and occur not only in physical environments but also in virtual environments, increasingly mediated by interactive technologies. Consequently, these diverse social interactions give rise to distinct communities characterized by unique forms of interaction. Previous research on the sense of community has identified four elements that pertain to local/physical communities, while an expanded framework consisting of six elements has been proposed for virtual communities. In this study, the Pokemon Go augmented reality game serves as a case study, and through the analysis of semi-structured interviews, a framework is developed for the elements of a sense of community that emerge within the blended space. This framework includes five key elements: recognition, commonality, solidarity, emotional bond, and collective thirdspace."