Hi there, My name is Irene Serrano and I am a PhD candidate in Communication Studies at Concordia University (Montreal). My current research revolves around how user-generated content is challenging and changing the journalists' traditional role and the news media power. One of my case studies is El Huffington Post, the Spanish version of the HuPo. While reviewing my fieldwork, I have realized that in El HuPo readers gather around the news pieces –in the comments sections– in a way that resembles more to a virtual community than to news content generators or news commentators. (That is, some of them know each other and comment on personal matters rather than on topics related to the news piece under which they are participating). I was wondering if anyone in this list has heard about previous research on virtual community formation on news sites. Thanks, Irene Serrano Vázquez Ph.D. candidate in Communication Studies Concordia University Montreal, Canada