Standing out and Fitting in: How Diversity in Taste Impacts Evaluation in Online Discussions

• In Event: 1148 - Popular Culture: Cultural Taste and Aesthetics

Abstract

I synthesize cultural omnivorousness and boundary spanning research to analyze how the contributions of individuals are evaluated in an online music-related discussion network of more than 750K community members. Although the cultural omnivorousness literature suggests that diverse tastes will be rewarded, the boundary spanning literature suggests that the categorical ambiguity associated with such diverse tastes will be penalized. Using online discussion data uniquely suited to the task of evaluating each perspective, I show that these perspectives are not necessarily mutually exclusive, and I provide an integrated approach that is more complete. Consistent with cultural omnivorousness, my analysis shows that people often appreciate others who participate across multiple discussion topics. However, consistent with the boundary spanning literature, those with highly atypical tastes are penalized and face difficulties in fitting in with the community. Therefore, omnivorousness is not appreciated by the rest of the community unless omnivorous individuals are different but within community boundaries. These findings hold net of controls measuring weak culture and cultural embeddedness.

Author

• Meltem Odabaş, Indiana University