Understanding and enabling network dynamics in virtual communities (Project)

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Role(s):
Research
Topic(s) of work:
Internet, Virtual / Online Communities, Social Networks, Scholarly Communication
Started:
2008

Primary Investigator(s)

  • Janet Fulk
    Annenberg School for Communication
    University of Southern California
    Los Angeles, CA, United States

  • Brian Uzzi
    Kellogg School of Management
    Northwestern University
    Evanston, Illinois, United States

  • Peter Monge
    Annenberg School for Communication
    University of Southern California
    Los Angeles, CA, United States

  • Noshir Contractor
    Department of Communication Studies
    School of Communication
    Northwestern University
    Evanston, IL, United States

Description

While there is growing awareness of the socioeconomic consequences of team collaborations, we have little socio-technical understanding of how teams are assembled, or how a given mode of assembly impacts their effectiveness. This project seeks to address this limitation. We develop a theoretical framework to understand the socio-technical dynamics shaping the assembly of teams in virtual communities.

With the advent of cyberinfrastructure, the assembly of teams is both enabled and constrained by the multidimensional networks in which members are embedded. These multidimensional networks include a variety of links that exist not only among individuals, but also with documents, datasets, workflows, analytic tools, and concepts. With these new configurations in mind, and using data from six major initiatives serving diverse scientific virtual communities, this project addresses two main research questions: First, what are the socio-technical motivations that explain the assembly of teams in virtual communities? Second, to what extent do the assembly mechanisms of teams influence their effectiveness?

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Funder