@article {9999, title = {Stages of motivation for contributing user-generated content: A theory and empirical test}, journal = {International Journal of Human-Computer Studies}, volume = {109}, year = {2018}, pages = {89-101}, publisher = {Syracuse University}, address = {Syracuse, NY}, abstract = {

User-generated content (UGC) projects involve large numbers of mostly unpaid contributors collaborating to create content. Motivation for such contributions has been an active area of research. In prior research, motivation for contribution to UGC has been considered a single, static and individual phenomenon. In this paper, we argue that it is instead three separate but interrelated phenomena. Using the theory of helping behaviour as a framework and integrating social movement theory, we propose a stage theory that distinguishes three separate sets (initial, sustained and meta) of motivations for participation in UGC. We test this theory using a data set from a Wikimedia Editor Survey (Wikimedia Foundation, 2011). The results suggest several opportunities for further refinement of the theory but provide support for the main hypothesis, that different stages of contribution have distinct motives. The theory has implications for both researchers and practitioners who manage UGC projects.

}, doi = {10.1016/j.ijhcs.2017.08.005 }, attachments = {https://floss.syr.edu/sites/crowston.syr.edu/files/crowston\%20fagnot\%20to\%20distribute.pdf}, author = {Kevin Crowston and Fagnot, Isabelle} } @proceedings {Crowston:2008c, title = {The motivational arc of massive virtual collaboration}, year = {2008}, note = {Please refer to the more recent version of the paper. }, month = {1{\textendash}2 July}, address = {L{\"u}neberg, Germany}, abstract = {Massive virtual collaborations (MVC) involve large numbers of mostly unpaid contributors collectively creating new content. Wikipedia is the most dramatic example of MVC; smaller-scale examples include blogs and discussion groups and free/libre open source software (FLOSS) projects. In this paper, we propose a model of motivations for contribution to MVC that integrates various theoretical perspectives to extend prior work. Specifically, we distinguish three different levels of contribution to projects (initial, sustained and meta) and capture the dynamic and recursive effects of contributions on emergent individual and project states.}, attachments = {https://floss.syr.edu/sites/crowston.syr.edu/files/MortivationalArc.pdf}, author = {Kevin Crowston and Fagnot, Isabelle} }