Many volunteer communities rely on technological systems to help their members connect, collaborate and learn the norms of how to participate in the organization. This dissertation presents research that examines technological interventions designed to support participation in three different volunteer-run communities, all of which have porous boundaries, and allow volunteers to self-select into the tasks they perform. The first study evaluates the impact that a Wikipedia tutorial system has on the contributions of new volunteers. The second study examines the relationship between interpersonal communication and productivity by estimating the impact that a new system for interpersonal communication has on article production on a population of wikis. The third study is an analysis of how promotion processes in a volunteer-run bicycle co-operative are shaped by its physical and technological infrastructure.

Creator

• Narayan, Sneha

DOI

• https://doi.org/10.21985/n2-mqdt-8t07

Subject

• Computer science
• Communication

Language

• en

Alternate Identifier

• http://dissertations.umi.com/northwestern:14801
• etdadmin_upload_685028

Keyword

• online communities
• wikis
• volunteers
• peer production
• collaboration

Date created

• 2019-01-01

Resource type

• Dissertation

Rights statement

• In Copyright