An Online Community's Characteristics And Influence:The Case Of PL-art-form

With the rise of social networks in recent years,especially the widespread of WeChat groups in China.A lot of WeChat groups for art lovers to communicate have been established in Shanghai,where the art atmosphere is condense.Among them,one contemporary art network community has more than 10 expansion groups and more than 7000 community members that has attracted the author's attention.The author conducts research on the PL-art-form,the largest contemporary art network community in Shanghai,and explores the establishment,development status,community characteristics and related influence of the network community through the combination of a questionnaire study,participant observation,and focus group interview.Through the study,it is found that the network community focuses on topics and activities about contemporary art active in Shanghai.The PL-art-form is a very diverse community,consisting of artists,art school students,art practitioners,and amateur audiences.These members joined the community with varying degrees of interest in distinct forms of contemporary art.It is worth noting that the activities of the network community are not limited to virtual online models.The PL-art-form network community organize irregularly offline activities for community members,including watching exhibitions,holding lectures,organizing round-table topics,and so on.In addition,the level of group activity of the PL-art-form network community is imbalanced,and as time lapses,the WeChat group activity level shows a fluctuating downward trend in participation.Its online communication and offline activity participation are still confined to minority community members,which reflects uneven activity among community members.The author discusses the influence and significance of the art network community on the members of their community.The following is found;firstly,the art network community has different influences on community members of different groups;secondly,the social capital obtained by community members in the art network community is divided into interpersonal capital and information capital;thirdly,the art network community not only has an inherent,subjective and individual impact on the community members,but also further influences the public domain of the arts.