Becoming a blogger: Trajectories, norms, and activities in a community of practice

• Naturalistic case study of peripheral and inbound members in a blog community.
• Bloggers begin for different reasons, but persist due to the sense of community.
• Inbound members need not be active bloggers, may be commenters or characters.
• Ability to observe and follow norms plays a big role in newcomer acceptance.
• The blogging community serves as a virtual third place.

This naturalistic study of a blogging community examines the norms and activities that govern the establishment of a community of practice. Activity theory and communities of practice are used as frameworks to guide the analysis of this study. Six brief cases are used to illustrate the paths of blogging newcomers, as they shift from peripheral to inbound paths, and in some cases to insider positions within the community. Findings show that the community values newcomer practices such as engaging in legitimate peripheral participation via observation of norms. Further, although the community is welcoming of newcomers, the burden is on the newcomer to learn about and interact appropriately within the community.