Leitner, Michael, Peter Wolkerstorfer, and Manfred Tscheligi. "How online communities support human values." Proceedings of the 5th Nordic conference on Human-computer interaction: building bridges. 2008.

This work employs value-sensitive and value-centered design approaches to explore the underlying reasons why people join online communities. Through qualitative semi-structured Laddering interviews with 21 participants, friendship, self-reflection, and information-seeking emerge as the primary motives for joining. Additionally, the study illustrates how online communities serve as information pools within social networks, facilitating self-identification and self-reflection among users.