Bursty coordination in online communities

Lei Zheng, Feng Mai, Deborah M. Gordon, Jeffrey V. Nickerson

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contributionpeer-review

3 Scopus citations

Abstract

The collective intelligence of online communities often depends on implicit forms of coordination, given the fluidity of membership and the lack of traditional hierarchies and associated incentive structures. This coordination drives knowledge production. Studying temporal dynamics may help elucidate how coordination happens. Specifically, the rate of interaction with an artifact such as a Wikipedia page can function as a signal that affects future interactions. Many activities can be characterized as bursty, meaning activity is not evenly spread or random, but is instead concentrated. This study analyzes 3,260 Wikipedia articles and shows that the coordination pattern in the Wikipedia community is mostly bursty. More importantly, the extent of burstiness affects article quality. This work highlights the important role temporal dynamics can play in the coordination process in online communities, and how it can affect the quality of knowledge production.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publication40th International Conference on Information Systems, ICIS 2019
ISBN (Electronic)9780996683197
StatePublished - 2019
Event40th International Conference on Information Systems, ICIS 2019 - Munich, Germany
Duration: 15 Dec 201918 Dec 2019

Publication series

Name40th International Conference on Information Systems, ICIS 2019

Conference

Conference40th International Conference on Information Systems, ICIS 2019
Country/TerritoryGermany
CityMunich
Period15/12/1918/12/19

Keywords

  • Burstiness
  • Coordination
  • Productivity
  • Temporal dynamics
  • Wikipedia

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Bursty coordination in online communities'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this