Community members are more likely to comply with a request if they have seen other people who also complied with that request (DC 12 CH2)

Contribution requests and social proofing

Making simpler requests, as compared to lengthier/complex ones, leads to more compliance for decisions that do not interest members (DC5 CH2)

Contribution requests and simplicity

Requests to make contributions in online communities are complied with more often when the person who makes the request is considered a higher status member of the community (DC 9 CH2)

Contribution requests and requester status 

Contribution requests are more likely to be complied with when the requester is more socially desirable. This includes whether the requester is familiar or similar to the community members or whether he is attractive or popular (DC11 CH2)

Contribution requests and requesters' social desirability 

Community members are more likely to comply with requests when they like the person who made them (DC 10 CH2)

Contribution requests and requesters' favorability

Asking people to perform tasks that interest them and that they are able to effectively do increases contributions (DC 3 CH 2)

Contribution requests and member interests

- Social desirability of requester

- Simplicity of request

- Status of requester

- Does the member like the requester (favorability)

- Social proofing

- Member interests

University of Michigan - Ann Arbor

Online communities can request specific contributions from their community members

Requesting contributions from community members

How a community frames what it is, what it does and what happens within it.

Presentation and framing

Kraut, Robert E., and Paul Resnick. Building successful online communities: Evidence-based social design. MIT Press, 2012.

Building successful online communities: Evidence-based social design (Kraut and Resnick)

Users will have trouble knowing what needs to be done in a community, if the community never tells them. This is why platforms often adopt systems to show their contributors what is needed. It increases  the chance the community will provide them (DC1 CH2)

Providing users with a list of what needs to be done

Factors that affect contribution requests

Kimberly Ling, Gerard Beenen, Pamela Ludford, Xiaoqing Wang, Klarissa Chang, Xin Li, Dan Cosley, Dan Frankowski, Loren Terveen, Al Mamunur Rashid, Paul Resnick, Robert Kraut

This reference discusses the role of social psychology in combatting under contribution in online communities. Four different experiments were conducted to understand what would motivate a user to contribute to the online community. 

Using Social Psychology to Motivate Contributions to Online Communities

- communities can highlight bad behavior publicly or act like it never happened

- they can present how similar they are to other communities or they can highlight the differences and what distinguishes them

- it can prime norms of reciprocity

- choose a good slogan or tagline that represents different aspects of the community

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Related

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