Network Characteristics and the Value of Collaborative User-Generated Content

  • Authors:

  • Sam Ransbotham;Gerald C. Kane;Nicholas H. Lurie

  • Affiliations:

  • Carroll School of Management, Boston College, Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts 02467;Carroll School of Management, Boston College, Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts 02467;School of Business, University of Connecticut, Storrs, Connecticut 06269

  • Venue:
  • Marketing Science
  • Year:
  • 2012

Quantified Score

Hi-index 0.00

Visualization

Abstract

User-generated content is increasingly created through the collaborative efforts of multiple individuals. In this paper, we argue that the value of collaborative user-generated content is a function both of the direct efforts of its contributors and of its embeddedness in the content--contributor network that creates it. An analysis of Wikipedia's WikiProject Medicine reveals a curvilinear relationship between the number of distinct contributors to user-generated content and viewership. A two-mode social network analysis demonstrates that the embeddedness of the content in the content--contributor network is positively related to viewership. Specifically, locally central content---characterized by greater intensity of work by contributors to multiple content sources---is associated with increased viewership. Globally central content---characterized by shorter paths to the other collaborative content in the overall network---also generates greater viewership. However, within these overall effects, there is considerable heterogeneity in how network characteristics relate to viewership. In addition, network effects are stronger for newer collaborative user-generated content. These findings have implications for fostering collaborative user-generated content.