My fault – Your fault: Knowledge-Seeking Frictions in Online Communities, joint with Tobias Kretschmer and Sophia Wetzler.

Work-in-progress. Working paper coming soon.

This study investigates the key factors that foster (or hinder) user engagement on knowledge-exchange platforms, relying on the comprehensive dataset of questions and answers posted on Statalist, a prominent online forum. Unlike typical online communities that usually allow anonymity, Statalist uniquely requires users to post under their real names. This norm of non-anonymity, combined with a high degree of professionalization marked by peer-enforced standards and formalized guidelines, distinguishes our study’s setting. We explore the impact of this “professionalized” environment on user behavior, arguing that, while it could enhance the quality of interactions (or transactions) on the platform, it may simultaneously raise barriers to participation. By combining quantitative metrics and text analysis, we analyze how users’ initial interactions with the community influence their participation and engagement on the platform, as well as the likelihood that they transition from roles of knowledge seekers to active contributors. Our preliminary findings suggest that initial challenges, such as information overload, reduce the likelihood of newcomers asking subsequent questions, while increasing their probability of becoming contributors. Additionally, we document heterogeneous responses among individuals, some of which correlate with the level of “identifiability” of those exchanging information on the platform.