In my literature research during my graduation on the topic of internal business communities, community size seems to be a subject that remains relatively unclear. Therefore, in this blogpost I try to summarize what’s known and I will try to give some recommendations on building a satisfying community size and critical mass.
The size is an important factor in the ongoing community survival simply because this is related to the total number of postings and viewers (Koh et al., 2007). Consequently, it seems important to attract many community members, because more members generate more discussion. Especially in the start-up development period high activity in a community is important in order to lead to a successful community. Moreover, a large community entails a greater diversity in opinions and ideas and also creates a larger knowledge base. Building a large community seems to be beneficial, however, members seem to have difficulty gathering valuable information when a community is very large (McLure-Wasko & Faraj, 2000). Small communities build an intimacy that leads to fuller disclosure and richer insights. The optimal size of a virtual community regarding effective communication is rather difficult to estimate and seems to be related to the needs and the effort involved, to perceived rewards, as well as the community’s role in the wider social network of the individual (Yeoman et al., 2003). A blogpost by Jeffrey Henning argues that the optimal community size is highly dependent on the purposes attached to the community. To ensure an ongoing community survival and encourage members to continue to interact, the optimal community size should be maintained. This means that new members should be attracted and current members will be leaving constantly.