Communication networks do not predict success in
attempts at peer production

Communication networks do not predict success in
attempts at peer production

group formation, social network analysis, peer production, group coordination

Although peer production has created valuable information goods like Wikipedia, the GNU/Linux operating system, and Reddit, the majority of
attempts at peer production achieve very little. In work groups and teams, coordination and social integration—manifested via dense, integrative

communication networks—predict success. We hypothesize that the conditions in which new peer production communities operate make com-
munication problems common and make coordination and integration more difficult, and that variation in the structure of project communication

networks will predict project success. In this article, we measure communication networks for 999 early-stage peer production wikis. We assess
whether communities displaying network markers of coordination and social integration are more productive and long-lasting. Contrary to our
expectations, we find a very weak relationship between communication structure and collaborative performance. We propose that technology
may serve as a partial substitute for communication in coordinating work and integrating newcomers in peer production.

Jeremy Foote 1

*, Aaron Shaw 2

, Benjamin Mako Hill

https://doi.org/10.1093/jcmc/zmad002

30 January 2023

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