How user participation in the self-governance of online communities affects knowledge contribution: Empirical evidence from a large-scale social Q&A platform

Abstract

Some online communities built on user-generated content have implemented user participation in self-governance to increase content compliance while saving operational costs. However, there is little knowledge on the impact of user participation in self-governance, particularly regarding users’ content contributions. Drawing on social cognitive theory, this study examined the impact of users’ participation in self-governance on knowledge contribution in an online Q&A community, as well as how the user’s social status and activity level may modify this impact. We obtained a rich sample from a major online Q&A community in China and tested our hypotheses employing multiple identification methods and robustness tests. We found that participation in self-governance decreases the quantity but increases the quality of users’ knowledge contributions. In addition, users’ social status and activity level were found to weaken the effect of participation in self-governance on knowledge contribution. The insights derived from this study are crucial for online communities heavily relying on user-generated content. By understanding the mechanics of the impact of user participation in self-governance, online communities can improve their content management strategies and strike a trade-off between knowledge generation and moderation.