I am currently working on my dissertation and am studying why some people create and share content in online communities and some do not. Does anyone know a valid instrument I can use?
Here is one of my researches about Online Community (The Effects of Social Media Marketing In the Hotel Industry: Conceptual Model for Development of an Effective Online Community),
It may help you,
Regards,
Dr. Alhaddad
Article The Effects of Social Media Marketing in the Hotel Industry:...
People choose to contribute to content focused communities after they decide that the potential benefits of supplying their knowledge to the network outweighs the effort needed to produce the content asset. Take the case of RG: researchers publish content in the hope of getting recognition for their hard work doing research, or perhaps to connect with other similar researchers, or maybe they are looking for new research opportunities and funding. Since the content (mostly research articles) has already been produced for other purposes it is quite easy for researchers to convince themselves on the benefits of publishing their work on here.
The marginal utility gained from posting an article is thus positive and will increase with each reaction (like, distribution) gained. This will lead to even more knowledge sharing and interaction within the network.
On the contrary if the researcher decides that the opportunity cost of creating and publishing content on this particular network is higher than posting to another network then they will be less likely to contribute.
I think it mostly has to do with perceived benefits and instant gratification but I am no expert so I might be wrong.
It would help if you could share more details about your intended study: the hypothesis you're putting forward and the methodology you want to use so that the community can provide more relevant input.