Kollock sets out by considering the information given in usenet forums etc. (remember, this is the 90ies) as essentially free information, ie. gifts, given to mostly unknown recipients. I like this notion of seeing user's advice as "gifts" without direct reciprocity (giver does not know recipient) - another intrinsic motivation (the joy of "doing good"). Kollock, however, sees this from an economical standpoint, where the extrinsic incentive of giving free advice to a community lies in the perception that by giving to a community one is also entitled to ask back from that community. I think both incentives can be highly energizing motivators.
Perhaps the extrinsic part can be addressed by offering some sort of credit system per created content (at a minimum listing past contributions of a given user) - and e.g. listing the top 10 contributors on a site's homepage, or by expecting that other users will want to e.g. reply to people with high credit scores more easily, in order to give back. Kollock stresses the importance of identity persistence for this "anticipated reciprocity" to work.
Also find it interesting that he distinguishes between egoistic and altruistic motives.
He lists as egoistic motivators:
- anticipated reciprocity
- reputation (bragging rights)
- sense of efficacy ("If a sense of efficacy is what is motivating someone, then contributions are likely to be increased to the extent that people can observe changes in the community attributable to their actions")
And as altruistic motivators:
- help someone who has a need
- attachment to a community: help the group with which one identifies to prosper
All of this of course only applies to those sites that enable the sharing of knowledge, but not the sharing of "self".
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