On Black Wikipedians: Motivations behind content contribution
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
5-1-2020
Abstract
Despite a growing body of scholarship on Wikipedia very few studies focus on motivational factors that compel underrepresented populations to contribute to the online encyclopedia. This study examines the information behavior of Black Wikipedians by examining a proposed research model that considers black altruism and perceptions of information quality among factors that drive content contribution. Data were collected from an online survey of 318 Black identified Wikipedia contributors and analyzed using Partial Least Squares (PLS), a Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) technique, to measure the degree of association among factors. Results show that content contribution among Black Wikipedians is driven by self-interest and contributors’ perceptions of information quality on Wikipedia. Social presence and black altruism also have significant but indirect influences on Black Wikipedians’ content contribution. Our proposed research model for content contribution is statistically validated.
Publication Source (Journal or Book title)
Information Processing and Management
Recommended Citation
Stewart, B., & Ju, B. (2020). On Black Wikipedians: Motivations behind content contribution. Information Processing and Management, 57 (3) https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ipm.2019.102134