Drawing on reference group and socialization theories, this article examines the social
norms of online communities. These theories are modified through an examination of the
history of Usenet and a review of the scholarly literature related to social norms and
normative behavior in Usenet newsgroups and other virtual communities. The article
proposes a modification of Merton's paradigmatic division of norms into behavioral and
attitudinal norms by dividing social norms found in online interactions into two types: explicit …