When is an online community 'working'?

People will think that an online community either is/isn't working depending on a variety of criteria chosen by themselves. Obviously, not everyone has the same ideas about when something is working, and when it's not, so in fact there's no definite answer to this question. It's rather like when people refuse to buy a packet of cornflakes because the box that it's in is a bit battered, whereas other people aren't bothered, as the stuff inside is fine. So, as I've shown, people have different views on everything, including whether or not an online community is fulfilling its purpose.

In my opinion, there are many criteria that could be used to measure how well an online community is doing. Obviously, this depends on what type of community it was. If it was a forum aimed at helping people with problems about a product they own, then you'd expect that they would only return to that community again when they have another problem. In that scenario, the popularity of the forum would probably depend on how problematic the product was. But in other situations, such as online gaming, and internet chat, I think the most factors are whether or not people return to the community again, how often they return and how many return. The more people come back and input into the same community again, the more it will be shown to be 'working'.