Governance of Online Creation Communities for the Building of Digital Commons:

Abstract

This chapter addresses the governance of a specific type of common-pool resource, online creation communities (OCCs). OCCs are communities of individuals that mainly interact via a platform of online participation, with the goal of building and sharing a common-pool resource resulting from collaboratively systematizing and integrating dispersed information and knowledge resources. Previous research on the governance of OCCs has been based on analyzing specific aspects of that governance. The literature has lacked a comprehensive and holistic view of what governance means in collective action online. This chapter provides a set of dimensions that define the governance of OCCs and that include consideration of infrastructure provision. This chapter uses the knowledge commons framework that builds on the Institutional Analysis and Development (IAD) framework. The empirical data are drawn from a statistical analysis of fifty cases and four case studies on OCCs (Wikipedia, Flickr, wikiHow, and Openesf).