Institutional vs. Entrepreneurial Engagement in Commons-Based Peer Production Communities: Network Analysis of Online Collective Action

• In Event: Online Media II: Analyses of Communication Networks

Abstract

This study presents findings from the network analysis of two online communities of collaborative production to uncover the structural characteristics of Commons-Based Peer Production. Guided by the model of Collective Action Space, this study identifies two ways of motivating user-creators to contribute to the common pool of creative output: entrepreneurial and institutional mode of engagement. Social network analysis was used to uncover and compare the network patterns of two selected communities. Exponential random graph models were used to test the estimation of multiple structural parameters at the levels of ties, dyads, and triads. This study demonstrates that formal structure is not necessarily associated with centralized engagement, and entrepreneurial mode of organizing collaboration might result in higher centralization. Further, it suggests that in spite of the values of impersonal interaction and loosely coordinated entrepreneurial online action, the introduction of some structure to a online community can be beneficial.

Author

• Rong Wang, U of Southern California - Annenberg School for Communication