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Big from the beginning: Assessing online contributors' behavior by their first contribution

Author

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  • Sylvain Dejean

    (CREM - Centre de recherche en économie et management - UNICAEN - Université de Caen Normandie - NU - Normandie Université - UR - Université de Rennes - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, LR-MOS - La Rochelle - Management, Organisation & Société - CEREGE [Poitiers] - Centre de recherche en gestion [EA 1722] - IAE Poitiers - Institut d'Administration des Entreprises (IAE) - Poitiers - UP - Université de Poitiers = University of Poitiers - UP - Université de Poitiers = University of Poitiers - ULR - La Rochelle Université)

  • Nicolas Jullien

    (LUSSI - Département Logique des Usages, Sciences sociales et Sciences de l'Information - UEB - Université européenne de Bretagne - European University of Brittany - Télécom Bretagne - IMT - Institut Mines-Télécom [Paris], MARSOUIN - Môle Armoricain de Recherche sur la SOciété de l'information et des usages d'INternet - UR - Université de Rennes - UEB - Université européenne de Bretagne - European University of Brittany - UBS - Université de Bretagne Sud - ENSAI - Ecole Nationale de la Statistique et de l'Analyse de l'Information [Bruz] - UBO - Université de Brest - Télécom Bretagne - IMT - Institut Mines-Télécom [Paris] - UR2 - Université de Rennes 2, ICI - Laboratoire Information, Coordination, Incitations - UEB - Université européenne de Bretagne - European University of Brittany - UBO - Université de Brest - Télécom Bretagne - IMT - Institut Mines-Télécom [Paris] - IBSHS - Institut Brestois des Sciences de l'Homme et de la Société - UBO - Université de Brest)

Abstract

This paper aims at investigating the process of involvement in open online communities producing knowledge, via the link between the first contribution and the level of contribution reached. While most studies look at the career of contribution after the first contribution, we focus on what happened before and during the first contribution. We challenge the fact that becoming a core member starts with peripheral contributive activities and results from a continuous learning process, as explained by the theory of community of practice. On the contrary, and coherent with epistemic community theory, our results, based on 13,000 answers to a survey on the use and contributions to Wikipédia, show that the future level of users' involvement depends on the time between the discovery of Wikipedia and the first contribution (negatively), and of the effort made in the first contribution (positively). Implications for management are also discussed.

Suggested Citation

  • Sylvain Dejean & Nicolas Jullien, 2015. "Big from the beginning: Assessing online contributors' behavior by their first contribution," Post-Print hal-01162738, HAL.
    • Handle: RePEc:hal:journl:hal-01162738
    DOI: 10.1016/j.respol.2015.03.001
    Note: View the original document on HAL open archive server: https://hal.science/hal-01162738
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Samer Faraj & Georg von Krogh & Eric Monteiro & Karim R. Lakhani, 2016. "Special Section Introduction—Online Community as Space for Knowledge Flows," Information Systems Research, INFORMS, vol. 27(4), pages 668-684, December.
    2. Dang Nguyen, Godefroy & Dejean, Sylvain & Jullien, Nicolas, 2018. "Do open online projects create social norms?," Journal of Institutional Economics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 14(1), pages 45-70, February.
    3. José-Pablo Gómez-Barrón & Miguel-Ángel Manso-Callejo & Ramón Alcarria, 2019. "Needs, drivers, participants and engagement actions: a framework for motivating contributions to volunteered geographic information systems," Journal of Geographical Systems, Springer, vol. 21(1), pages 5-41, March.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Voluntary participation; Wikipedia; Survey; Heckman; Probit; Econometric studies; Epistemic community;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • L17 - Industrial Organization - - Market Structure, Firm Strategy, and Market Performance - - - Open Source Products and Markets
    • L86 - Industrial Organization - - Industry Studies: Services - - - Information and Internet Services; Computer Software
    • H41 - Public Economics - - Publicly Provided Goods - - - Public Goods

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