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Ideological Segregation among Online Collaborators: Evidence from Wikipedians

Author

Listed:
  • Shane Greenstein

    (Harvard Business School, Technology and Operations Management Unit)

  • Yuan Gu

    (Harvard Business School)

  • Feng Zhu

    (Harvard Business School, Technology and Operations Management Unit)

Abstract

Do online communities segregate into separate conversations about "contestable knowledge"? We analyze the contributors of biased and slanted content in Wikipedia articles about U.S. politics, and focus on two research questions: (1) Do contributors display tendencies to contribute to topics with similar or opposing bias and slant? (2) Do contributors learn from experience with extreme or neutral content, and does that experience change the slant and bias of their contributions over time? Despite heterogeneity in contributors and their contributions, we find an overall trend towards less segregated conversations. Contributors tend to edit articles with slants that are the opposite of their own views, and the slant from experienced contributors becomes less extreme over time. The experienced contributors with the most extreme biases decline the most. We also find some significant differences between Republicans and Democrats.

Suggested Citation

  • Shane Greenstein & Yuan Gu & Feng Zhu, 2016. "Ideological Segregation among Online Collaborators: Evidence from Wikipedians," Harvard Business School Working Papers 17-028, Harvard Business School, revised Mar 2017.
    • Handle: RePEc:hbs:wpaper:17-028
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Julia Cage & Nicolas Hervé & Marie-Luce Viaud, 2017. "The Production of Information in an Online World: Is Copy Right?," Working Papers hal-03393171, HAL.
    2. Julia Cage & Nicolas Hervé & Marie-Luce Viaud, 2017. "The Production of Information in an Online World: Is Copy Right?," Working Papers hal-03393171, HAL.
    3. 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.
    4. Thomas Boulton & Bill B. Francis & Thomas Shohfi & Daqi Xin, 2021. "Investor awareness or information asymmetry? Wikipedia and IPO underpricing," The Financial Review, Eastern Finance Association, vol. 56(3), pages 535-561, August.
    5. repec:hal:wpspec:info:hdl:2441/3tcpvf3sd399op9sgtn8tq5bhd is not listed on IDEAS
    6. Julia Cage & Nicolas Hervé & Marie-Luce Viaud, 2018. "The Production of Information in an Online World: Is Copy Right?," SciencePo Working papers Main hal-03393151, HAL.
    7. Marit Hinnosaar & Toomas Hinnosaar & Michael Kummer & Olga Slivko, 2017. "Wikipedia Matters," Carlo Alberto Notebooks 508, Collegio Carlo Alberto.
    8. Julia Cage & Nicolas Hervé & Marie-Luce Viaud, 2018. "The Production of Information in an Online World: Is Copy Right?," Post-Print hal-03393151, HAL.
    9. repec:hal:spmain:info:hdl:2441/1ikqf7qv0m8h7q6lmc4ng73ueq is not listed on IDEAS
    10. repec:hal:spmain:info:hdl:2441/38tbdqmgvf8f9amamb132hea9b is not listed on IDEAS
    11. repec:hal:spmain:info:hdl:2441/3tcpvf3sd399op9sgtn8tq5bhd is not listed on IDEAS

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • L17 - Industrial Organization - - Market Structure, Firm Strategy, and Market Performance - - - Open Source Products and Markets
    • L3 - Industrial Organization - - Nonprofit Organizations and Public Enterprise
    • L86 - Industrial Organization - - Industry Studies: Services - - - Information and Internet Services; Computer Software

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