Identification in Online Communities
From Information Systems at Pitt Business
How can voluntary knowledge contribution be promoted between strangers interacting through technology-mediated communication? Online communities are becoming more common and have the potential to benefit members and/or sponsoring organizations. However, most communities are not surviving and thus it is important to understand why this occurs. This paper posits that since mediated communication lacks social cues which attenuate the social norms on behavior the community experiences increased social loafing. Additionally, since members are diverse and communication is not face-to-face it is more difficult to acquire a shared understanding necessary for effective communication.
This paper examines the role of the technological infrastructure of an online community in facilitating knowledge contribution by increasing the ability of individuals to identify the contributor of information in the community. This paper shows that to the extent that individuals believe they are able to successfully communicate their online identity (i.e., who he or she is in an online community) that knowledge contribution is increased both directly and indirectly through community satisfaction.
[edit] Abstract
A variety of information technology (IT) artifacts, such as those supporting reputation management and digital archives of past interactions, are commonly deployed to support online communities. Despite the irubiquity, theoretical and empirical research investigating the impact of such IT-based features on online community communication and interaction is limited. Drawing on the social psychology literature, we describe an identity-based view to understand how the use of IT-based features in online communities is associated with online knowledge contribution. Specifically, the use of four categories of IT artifacts (those supporting virtual co-presence, persistent labeling, self-presentation, and deep profiling) is proposed to enhance perceived identity verification, which thereafter promotes satisfaction and knowledge contribution.
To test the theoretical model, we surveyed more than 650 members of two online communities. In addition to the positive effects of community IT artifacts on perceived identity verification, we also find that perceived identity verification is strongly linked to member satisfaction and knowledge contribution. This paper offers a new perspective on the mechanisms through which IT features facilitate computer-mediated knowledge sharing, and it yields important implications for the design of the supporting IT infrastructure.
[edit] Paper Information
Authors: Meng Ma and Ritu Agarwal
To read more check out the paper at Through a Glass Darkly: Information Technology Design, Identity Verification, and Knowledge Contribution in Online Communities
This article was originally published in ISR, Vol 18, Num 1, 2007.
[edit] Keywords
Computer-mediated communication and collaboration, perceived identity verification, online communities, design of IT infrastructure; questionnaire surveys
