TY - JOUR
T1 - Effect of external events on newcomer participation in open source online communities
AU - Mitra, Raktim
AU - Johri, Aditya
AU - Nov, Oded
PY - 2013/6
Y1 - 2013/6
N2 - Newcomer participation is a strong determinant of the success of online communities, particularly of open source software (OSS) development communities. Most research on newcomer participation in online communities to date has focused on internal socialization mechanisms that shape participation. No study we are aware of has looked at the role of factors external to a community itself in determining participation levels. In this study, we investigate the effect of company announcements made by OSS steward firms, events which are external to a community, on participation in newcomer communities associated with the OSS. We studied user activity in two communities, a Java newcomer forum and a MySQL newcomer forum, around two announcements that affected each community. We found evidence that company announcements had a substantial effect and participation either increased or decreased. Through analysis of secondary sources we conjecture that announcements indirectly shape participation by influencing newcomer motivation. Announcements perceived as hostile to open source values have a significant negative effect on participation, whereas announcements that were perceived as friendly either significantly increase participation or have no significant effect. Our study shows it is important to understand external factors to identify reasons for decline or growth of participation in online communities.
AB - Newcomer participation is a strong determinant of the success of online communities, particularly of open source software (OSS) development communities. Most research on newcomer participation in online communities to date has focused on internal socialization mechanisms that shape participation. No study we are aware of has looked at the role of factors external to a community itself in determining participation levels. In this study, we investigate the effect of company announcements made by OSS steward firms, events which are external to a community, on participation in newcomer communities associated with the OSS. We studied user activity in two communities, a Java newcomer forum and a MySQL newcomer forum, around two announcements that affected each community. We found evidence that company announcements had a substantial effect and participation either increased or decreased. Through analysis of secondary sources we conjecture that announcements indirectly shape participation by influencing newcomer motivation. Announcements perceived as hostile to open source values have a significant negative effect on participation, whereas announcements that were perceived as friendly either significantly increase participation or have no significant effect. Our study shows it is important to understand external factors to identify reasons for decline or growth of participation in online communities.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84878957744&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=84878957744&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.5210/fm.v18i6.4642
DO - 10.5210/fm.v18i6.4642
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:84878957744
SN - 1396-0466
VL - 18
JO - First Monday
JF - First Monday
IS - 6
ER -