https://doi.org/10.1140/epjds/s13688-022-00346-6
Regular Article
Dynamics of the social construction of knowledge: an empirical study of Zhihu in China
1
School of Arts and Communication, Beijing Normal University, 100875, Beijing, China
2
School of Systems Science, Beijing Normal University, 100875, Beijing, China
3
Department of Communication, Michigan State University, 48824, East Lansing, MI, United States
4
Computational Communication Research Center, Beijing Normal University, 519087, Zhuhai, China
Received:
8
June
2021
Accepted:
12
May
2022
Published online:
4
June
2022
This study examined how the knowledge market promotes knowledge construction on question-and-answer (Q&A) websites. Data were collected from Zhihu, one of the largest Q&A sites in China. Hierarchical linear modeling was employed to estimate the dynamics of information accumulation, that is, the provision of informative content as factual construction. By employing information accumulation as the objective measure of knowledge construction, we determined that online knowledge construction was facilitated by a competitive marketplace of ideas. In addition, participation, temporal, and discourse features affected the dynamics of information accumulation. In specific, active users contributed significantly less to information accumulation than did ordinary users. Information accumulation shows a naturally decaying process represented as a function of answer order. The time interval between answers at the two preceding time points reduced the informativeness of answers at the subsequent time point. Answers with a higher readability score reduced the informativeness of subsequent answers. The results indicate that knowledge construction on Q&A sites unfolds as a process of mass collaboration among users.
Key words: Mass collaboration / Marketplace of ideas / Knowledge construction
© The Author(s) 2022
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