When collaborating on a task, the group draws on resources beyond the immediate task to reach the goal. Some of these resources may be viewed as social capital. Social capital is operationally defined as the highest level of group cohesion represented by the existence of expected reciprocity in the group. It represents little outside support for the task, but awareness allows coordination. At this level, there may be known differentiated roles and talents.
Commitment exists when the individual actively contributes to the goals of the group.
A commitment is made to the group by offering resources that will move the group closer to the collective goal. Reciprocity exists when group members, based on relationships with other members, feel an obligation not only to the abstract group goals but to the individual members. We suggest that recognizing where a situation resides among the three dimensions can provide insight into what types of tools are appropriate to rebuild the social periphery that is often lacking in collaborative systems. Our goal is to experiment with these dimensions to determine which tools are appropriate for given situations. In building a system for collaborative authoring, system design focused only on the focal task has proved less than adequate.