Sustainability of Stack Exchange Q&A communities: the role of trust
Abstract Knowledge-sharing communities are fundamental elements of a knowledge-based society. Understanding how different factors influence their sustainability is of crucial importance. We explore the role of the social network structure and social trust in their sustainability. We analyze the earl...
Main Authors: | , , , |
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Format: | Article |
Language: | English |
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SpringerOpen
2023-02-01
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Series: | EPJ Data Science |
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Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1140/epjds/s13688-023-00381-x |
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author | Ana Vranić Aleksandar Tomašević Aleksandra Alorić Marija Mitrović Dankulov |
author_facet | Ana Vranić Aleksandar Tomašević Aleksandra Alorić Marija Mitrović Dankulov |
author_sort | Ana Vranić |
collection | DOAJ |
description | Abstract Knowledge-sharing communities are fundamental elements of a knowledge-based society. Understanding how different factors influence their sustainability is of crucial importance. We explore the role of the social network structure and social trust in their sustainability. We analyze the early evolution of social networks in four pairs of active and closed Stack Exchange communities on topics of physics, astronomy, economics, and literature and use a dynamical reputation model to quantify the evolution of social trust in them. In addition, we study the evolution of two active communities on mathematics topics and two closed communities about startups and compare them with our main results. Active communities have higher local cohesiveness and develop stable, better-connected, trustworthy cores. The early emergence of a stable and trustworthy core may be crucial for sustainable knowledge-sharing communities. |
first_indexed | 2024-04-09T23:06:03Z |
format | Article |
id | doaj.art-345a06bcad6c4a1dbf526144a8668293 |
institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
issn | 2193-1127 |
language | English |
last_indexed | 2024-04-09T23:06:03Z |
publishDate | 2023-02-01 |
publisher | SpringerOpen |
record_format | Article |
series | EPJ Data Science |
spelling | doaj.art-345a06bcad6c4a1dbf526144a86682932023-03-22T10:41:39ZengSpringerOpenEPJ Data Science2193-11272023-02-0112112410.1140/epjds/s13688-023-00381-xSustainability of Stack Exchange Q&A communities: the role of trustAna Vranić0Aleksandar Tomašević1Aleksandra Alorić2Marija Mitrović Dankulov3Institute of Physics Belgrade, University of BelgradeDepartment of Sociology, Faculty of Philosophy, University of Novi SadInstitute of Physics Belgrade, University of BelgradeInstitute of Physics Belgrade, University of BelgradeAbstract Knowledge-sharing communities are fundamental elements of a knowledge-based society. Understanding how different factors influence their sustainability is of crucial importance. We explore the role of the social network structure and social trust in their sustainability. We analyze the early evolution of social networks in four pairs of active and closed Stack Exchange communities on topics of physics, astronomy, economics, and literature and use a dynamical reputation model to quantify the evolution of social trust in them. In addition, we study the evolution of two active communities on mathematics topics and two closed communities about startups and compare them with our main results. Active communities have higher local cohesiveness and develop stable, better-connected, trustworthy cores. The early emergence of a stable and trustworthy core may be crucial for sustainable knowledge-sharing communities.https://doi.org/10.1140/epjds/s13688-023-00381-xNetworks structureDynamic reputationKnowledge exchangeStack ExchangeSustainability of Q&A communities |
spellingShingle | Ana Vranić Aleksandar Tomašević Aleksandra Alorić Marija Mitrović Dankulov Sustainability of Stack Exchange Q&A communities: the role of trust EPJ Data Science Networks structure Dynamic reputation Knowledge exchange Stack Exchange Sustainability of Q&A communities |
title | Sustainability of Stack Exchange Q&A communities: the role of trust |
title_full | Sustainability of Stack Exchange Q&A communities: the role of trust |
title_fullStr | Sustainability of Stack Exchange Q&A communities: the role of trust |
title_full_unstemmed | Sustainability of Stack Exchange Q&A communities: the role of trust |
title_short | Sustainability of Stack Exchange Q&A communities: the role of trust |
title_sort | sustainability of stack exchange q a communities the role of trust |
topic | Networks structure Dynamic reputation Knowledge exchange Stack Exchange Sustainability of Q&A communities |
url | https://doi.org/10.1140/epjds/s13688-023-00381-x |
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