Tribal Islands or Knowledge Bridges? Understanding Self-Sufficient Subgroups in Online Communities
时间：2025年4月16日 10:00 - 11:30
地点：yl23411永利A523
主讲人：陈致玮 教授，香港理工大学
主持人：陈熹 教授 ，yl23411永利
Abstract: Online communities often benefit from subgroups whose specialized expertise boosts overall engagement. However, when these subgroups become highly self-sufficient ‘tribes’, they may limit cooperation beyond tribal boundaries. Synthesizing prior research on tribalism with social network theory, we draw on concepts of tribal density (intensity of internal interactions) and tribal transitivity (tendency for triads to form closely knit sub-clusters) to comprehend how tribes affect both in-tribe and out-tribe assistive behaviors. By analyzing data from a large trucker-focused Q&A platform, we find that rising density initially fuels rapid and plentiful in-tribe assistance but exhibits an inverted U-shaped relationship with out-tribe assistance as exclusivity sets in. Conversely, transitivity reduces in-tribe assistance by creating fragmented pockets, yet at very high levels can paradoxically spark renewed external engagement. Furthermore, strategically deployed platform actions, such as award programs, moderate these impacts by weakening the adverse effects of excessive self-sufficiency. Empirical findings underscore the nuanced dynamics of tribalism in knowledge-sharing environments, offering actionable insights for platform designers seeking to maintain both cohesive subgroup identities and broader community vitality.
Bio:
Chee-Wee Tan is a Professor at the Department of Management and Marketing in the Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU). Before joining PolyU, Chee-Wee is a Professor w/ Special Responsibilities in Research Excellence at Copenhagen Business School (CBS). Chee-Wee received his PhD in Management Information Systems from the University of British Columbia. His research interests focus on design and innovation issues related to digital platforms. His work has been published in leading peer-reviewed journals such as MIS Quarterly (MISQ), Journal of Operations Management (JOM), Information Systems Research (ISR), Journal of Management Information Systems (JMIS), and the Journal of the Association for Information Systems (JAIS), among others. Chee-Wee is holding or has held Honorary and Guest Professorship positions at Lingnan University (LNU), Monash University Malaysia (MUM), the University of New South Wales (UNSW), the University of Nottingham Ningbo China (UNNC), the University of Science and Technology of China (USTC), and the Weizenbaum Institute for the Networked Society. Apart from having served as a Senior Editor for MISQ, Chee-Wee has served or is currently serving on the editorial boards for ACM Distributed Ledger Technologies: Research and Practice (DLT), DSS, EJIS, Industrial Management & Data Systems (IMDS), IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management (IEEE-TEM), Information & Management (I&M), Information Systems Journal (ISJ), Internet Research (IntR), JAIS, Journal of Computer Information Systems (JCIS), Journal of Management Analytics (JMA), JMIS, and MISQ. Finally, Chee-Wee is the Vice President of Publications for the Association for Information Systems.
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