Sharing information in web communities

Gabrielle Demange (1, 2)

1 PSE - Paris-Jourdan Sciences Economiques
2 PSE - Paris School of Economics

The paper investigates the formation of information sharing communities. The environment is characterized by the anonymity of the contributors and users, as on the Web. Furthermore information exchange is limited to simple recommendations. When preferences differ, it is argued that a community may be worth forming because it facilitates the interpretation and understanding of the posted information. The admission rule within a community, the quality of information, and the stability of multiple communities are examined.

Mots clés: Value of information; Communities; Anonymity; Preference diversity

Domaines: Economies et finances

Gabrielle Demange. Sharing information in web communities. Games and Economic Behavior, 2010, 68 (2), pp.580-601. ⟨10.1016/j.geb.2009.08.006⟩. ⟨halshs-00581341⟩