Psychological factors behind the lack of participation in online discussions

Yair Amichai-Hamburger; Tali Gazit; Judit Bar-Ilan; Oren Perez; Noa Aharony; Jenny Bronstein; Talia Sarah Dyne

doi:10.1016/j.chb.2015.09.009

Psychological factors behind the lack of participation in online discussions

Yair Amichai-Hamburger, Tali Gazit, Judit Bar-Ilan, Oren Perez, Noa Aharony, Jenny Bronstein, Talia Sarah Dyne

Bar-Ilan University

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Abstract

The majority of participants in online communities are lurkers, who browse discussions without actively contributing to them. Their lack of active participation threatens the sustainability of online communities. This review provides an understanding as to why the majority of participants in online communities remain silent. It specifies a variety of factors that come into play when people determine their level of participation: individual differences: need for gratification, personality dispositions, time available and self-efficacy; social-group processes: such as socialization, type of community, tendency toward social loafing, responses to delurking and the quality of responses; technological setting factors: technical design flaws, privacy and safety of the online group. All are factors that are liable to influence involvement in online communities.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	268-277
Number of pages	10
Journal	Computers in Human Behavior
Volume	55
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2015.09.009
State	Published - 1 Feb 2016

Keywords

Lurker
Online communities
Online discussions
Online participation

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

Arts and Humanities (miscellaneous)
Human-Computer Interaction
General Psychology

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10.1016/j.chb.2015.09.009

Cite this

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title = "Psychological factors behind the lack of participation in online discussions",

abstract = "The majority of participants in online communities are lurkers, who browse discussions without actively contributing to them. Their lack of active participation threatens the sustainability of online communities. This review provides an understanding as to why the majority of participants in online communities remain silent. It specifies a variety of factors that come into play when people determine their level of participation: individual differences: need for gratification, personality dispositions, time available and self-efficacy; social-group processes: such as socialization, type of community, tendency toward social loafing, responses to delurking and the quality of responses; technological setting factors: technical design flaws, privacy and safety of the online group. All are factors that are liable to influence involvement in online communities.",

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AU - Gazit, Tali

AU - Bar-Ilan, Judit

AU - Perez, Oren

AU - Aharony, Noa

AU - Bronstein, Jenny

AU - Sarah Dyne, Talia

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AB - The majority of participants in online communities are lurkers, who browse discussions without actively contributing to them. Their lack of active participation threatens the sustainability of online communities. This review provides an understanding as to why the majority of participants in online communities remain silent. It specifies a variety of factors that come into play when people determine their level of participation: individual differences: need for gratification, personality dispositions, time available and self-efficacy; social-group processes: such as socialization, type of community, tendency toward social loafing, responses to delurking and the quality of responses; technological setting factors: technical design flaws, privacy and safety of the online group. All are factors that are liable to influence involvement in online communities.

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DO - 10.1016/j.chb.2015.09.009

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JO - Computers in Human Behavior

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ER -

Psychological factors behind the lack of participation in online discussions

Abstract

Keywords

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

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