‘I'm Not Much of an Expert, Myself’: Situated Learning in an Informal Online Community of Practice

Abstract

This article represents an attempt to more fully understand the interactions of individuals in a specific community of practice on the World Wide Web. It attempts to answer questions about whether norms of participation and learning developed over time have been established in this virtual community of practice. It also explores how the perceived identities of individual members relate to degrees of expertise and status within the community. Over the last 20 years, there has been much written about the concepts of communities of practice and legitimate peripheral participation. The results of the study have proven very interesting. Through an understanding of the established norms of participation and learning, it has brought to light many different facets of the functioning of this particular community. In this case, members join and quickly become familiar with the community's unspoken standards of modesty and humility. They work to develop a standing as an expert, while attempting to not be seen as possessing any pride in their abilities. Further research might follow these same themes into communities of practice based in other settings such as work, social class or community activism.

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