HCC: Participation Lifecycles in Online Communities

越来越多的人参与社交网站(如MySpace、Facebook)、讨论网站(如Slashdot、Digg)和投稿社交媒体网站(如YouTube、维基百科)，这对这些在线社区的用户体验提出了质疑。这项研究将对以下方面做出概念性的贡献：对在线社区的参与；持续在线社区的新用户如何融入，这种参与如何持续，退出的预测因素，以及随着时间的推移参与的模式。本项目将对Slashdot和Everything2进行深入的、多方法的分析，Slashdot是一个专注于技术问题的新闻和讨论网站，Everything2是一个用户生成的百科全书，强调创造性表达。这两个站点都是长期存在的，具有长达十年的交互历史，这使得能够分析纵向模式。特殊的站点访问协议提供了对服务器日志和用户数据的异常全面的访问级别。在Everything2的情况下，该协议还允许修改界面并在站点内创建多个实验条件。这些现场试验将补充对服务器日志、用户调查和访谈的更多传统分析。同时使用相同的工具集检查两个站点，为将来更好地概括结果和验证可应用于其他在线社区的措施创造了机会。广泛影响：大规模在线社区的日益流行已经改变了人们协作、生成内容、共享兴趣、讨论主题和维护关系的方式。然而，人们对网站的设计、服务条款、激励结构、规范或其他社会技术特征如何影响用户体验知之甚少。鉴于这些类型的在线社区在学生的在线体验中日益占据中心地位，该项目深思熟虑地将社会计算研究挂钩的各级教学方法结合在一起。归根结底，这项研究的影响将是改进在线社区的设计和维护，使之成为强大的社会技术系统。

Increased participation in social networking sites (e.g., MySpace, Facebook), discussion sites (e.g., Slashdot, Digg), and contributory social media sites (e.g., YouTube, Wikipedia) has raised questions about the user experience within these online communities. This research will make conceptual contributions to the emerging understanding of participation in online communities; how new users of persistent online communities become integrated, how that participation is sustained, the predictors of exit, and patterns of involvement over time.This project will engage in an in-depth, multi-method analysis of Slashdot, a news and discussion site focused on technology issues, and Everything2, a user-generated encyclopedia with an emphasis on creative expression. Both sites are long-lived, with up to ten years of interaction history, which enables an analysis of longitudinal patterns. Special site access agreements afford an unusually comprehensive level of access to server logs and user data. In the case of Everything2, the agreement also allows interface modifications and creation of multiple experimental conditions within the site. These field experiments will complement more traditional analyses of server logs, user surveys, and interviews. Simultaneously examining two sites with the same set of tools creates opportunities for greater generalization of results and validated measures that can be applied to other online communities in the future.Broader Impact: The growing prevalence of large-scale online communities has changed how people collaborate, generate content, share interest, discuss topics, and maintain relationships. However, little is known about how the design of sites, terms of service, incentive structures, norms or other socio-technical features affect the user experience. Given the centrality that these types of online communities increasingly have in students' online experiences, this project thoughtfully engages pedagogy at all levels with the hook of social computing research. Ultimately the impact of this research will be improved design and maintenance of online communities as robust socio-technical systems.