The Social Psychological Effects of Feedback on the Production of Internet Information Pools

A growing number of systems on the Internet create what we call information pools, or collections of online information goods for public, club or private consumption. Examples of information pools include collaborative editing websites (e.g. Wikipedia), peer-to-peer file sharing networks (e.g., Napster), multimedia contribution sites (e.g. YouTube), and amorphous collections of commentary (e.g., blogs). In this study, we specifically focus on information pools that create a public good. Following current theory and research, we argue that extremely low costs of contribution combined with very large networks of distribution facilitate the production of online information pools—despite an abundance of free-riding behavior. This paper presents results from a series of Internet field experiments that examine the effects of various feedback mechanisms on repeat contributions to an information pool. We demonstrate that the social psychological benefits from gratitude, historical reminders of past behavior, and ranking of one’s contributions relative to those of others can significantly increase repeat contributions. In addition, the context in which individuals interact with the system may partially mitigate the positive effect of some types of feedback on contribution behavior. Resume The Social Psychological Effects of Feedback on the Production of Internet Information Pools A growing number of systems on the Internet create what we call information pools, or collections of online information goods for public, club or private consumption. Examples of information pools include collaborative editing websites (e.g. Wikipedia), peer-to-peer file sharing networks (e.g., Napster), multimedia contribution sites (e.g. YouTube), and amorphous collections of commentary (e.g., blogs). In this study, we specifically focus on information pools that create a public good. Following current theory and research, we argue that extremely low costs of contribution combined with very large networks of distribution facilitate the production of online information pools—despite an abundance of free-riding behavior. This paper presents results from a series of Internet field experiments that examine the effects of various feedback mechanisms on repeat contributions to an information pool. We demonstrate that the social psychological benefits from gratitude, historical reminders of past behavior, and ranking of one’s contributions relative to those of others can significantly increase repeat contributions. In addition, the context in which individuals interact with the system may partially mitigate the positive effect of some types of feedback on contribution behavior. Resumen Los Efectos Psicologicos y Sociales de la Retroalimentacion sobre la Produccion de Grupos de Informacion en el Internet Un numero creciente de sistemas en el Internet crean lo que nosotros llamamos Grupos de informacion, o colecciones de bienes de informacion online para el consumo publico, de club o privados. Ejemplos de grupos de informacion incluyen la colaboracion en la edicion de paginas del Internet (por ejemplo, Wikipedia), las redes de compartimiento de documentos entre los pares (por ejemplo, Napster), las contribuciones de sitios multimedia (por ejemplo, YouTube), y las colecciones amorfas de comentarios (por ejemplo, blogs). En este estudio, nos focalizamos especificamente en los grupos de informacion que crean bienes publicos. Siguiendo las teorias e investigaciones corrientes, proponemos que las contribuciones de extremado bajo costo combinado con las grandes redes de distribucion facilitan la produccion de grupos de informacion online—a pesar de la abundancia de comportamiento gratuito. Este articulo presenta resultados de una serie de experimentos de campo en Internet para examinar los efectos de varios mecanismos de retroalimentacion sobre las contribuciones reiteradas a un grupo de informacion. Demostramos que los beneficios sociales y psicologicos de la gratitud, recordatorios historicos del comportamiento pasado, y el rango de las contribuciones de algunos en relacion a aquellos otros puede incrementar significativamente las contribuciones repetidas. Ademas, el contexto en el cual los individuos interactuan con el sistema puede mitigar parcialmente el efecto positivo de algunos tipos de retroalimentacion sobre el comportamiento contributivo. ZhaiYao Yo yak