A Social Differentiation Perspective on Social Media Contribution Inequality: The Case of Wikipedia

• In Event: Digital Exclusion and Inequality

Abstract

The paper proposes an evolutionary model for explaining the development of the Wikipedia editorial community and of social media projects in general. Using a social differentiation lens and a community of practice perspective, we analyze 235 million editorial interventions to Wikipedia over a ten-year period (2001-2010). We reveal the presence of a leading elite, responsible for a majority of the editorial elite. Segmented regression reveals discrete evolutionary phases in elite emergence, which map onto Wenger’s evolutionary model for communities of practice. Lagged regression indicates that an increase in collaborative structuration leads to the emergence of a quasi-stable, adhocratic elite.

Authors

• Sorin Adam Matei, Purdue U

• Wuato Wei, Purdue U

• Brian Christopher Britt, South Dakota State University

• Michael Zhu, Purdue U

• Chuanhai Liu, Purdue U

• Elisa Bertino, Purdue U