I think that there are different types of communities.

One (ie facebook communities or groups) you should add it to your community roll to be able to participate. The act of adding is of extreme importance. This community will say something about you. You are this community, you feel that you are part of it. You are one step further than an individual who shares the same interest but does not have the community on his (her) profile.

In the other hand, you have communities that you don’t have to add it, or create a profile to participate. If you don’t need that, you can participate freely, come and go, just read and don’t write, etc. This communities could be “google communities”, something that you search googling and then “participate” sometimes. You can “be part” of different poker communities that you found googling. A community that you enter just to ask some strategies, other to find where to buy good decks, or where tournaments take place. This is not the same type of community that you found at facebook, or orkut, or any other social internet page.

btw, i have send a paper to Daiane that makes a comparison betwen online communities that are managed by the company or managed by consumers. It was published this year at the Brazilian Marketing Conference, and the authors were Stefânia Ordovás de Almeida, José Afonso Mazzon and Utpal Dholakia. They developed a theoretical model and proposed some hypothesis. I think she can give it to you and explain the portuguese

best

Renan Petersen-Wagner