Paper Number
ICIS2025-2580
Paper Type
Complete
Abstract
Collaboration drives innovation and productivity and is becoming more prevalent among content creators. To facilitate this, platforms have implemented features allowing creators to formally credit their collaborators. This raises important questions about the effects of such a credit attribution system on collaboration and content creation. While a credit system benefits collaborators through proper attribution, it could reduce viewers' recognition of the uploader, creating a trade-off for creators adopting the system. This study addresses a literature gap on credit attribution in online platforms by examining Bilibili, a video-sharing platform that piloted a collaborator credit system in 2019. Using a Linear Probability Model and a Two-Stage Least Squares approach, we find that the credit system increases collaboration likelihood and video performance. However, this increase is most pronounced among high-popularity creators, raising concerns about exacerbating attention inequality. Our findings underscore the importance of proper credit attribution and highlight its potential unintended consequences.
Recommended Citation
Zhang, Yue and Kwon, Ohchan, "Sharing the Spotlight: The Impact of Collaborator Credit Systems on Online Creator Collaboration" (2025). ICIS 2025 Proceedings. 27.
https://aisel.aisnet.org/icis2025/sharing_econ/sharing_econ/27
Sharing the Spotlight: The Impact of Collaborator Credit Systems on Online Creator Collaboration
Collaboration drives innovation and productivity and is becoming more prevalent among content creators. To facilitate this, platforms have implemented features allowing creators to formally credit their collaborators. This raises important questions about the effects of such a credit attribution system on collaboration and content creation. While a credit system benefits collaborators through proper attribution, it could reduce viewers' recognition of the uploader, creating a trade-off for creators adopting the system. This study addresses a literature gap on credit attribution in online platforms by examining Bilibili, a video-sharing platform that piloted a collaborator credit system in 2019. Using a Linear Probability Model and a Two-Stage Least Squares approach, we find that the credit system increases collaboration likelihood and video performance. However, this increase is most pronounced among high-popularity creators, raising concerns about exacerbating attention inequality. Our findings underscore the importance of proper credit attribution and highlight its potential unintended consequences.
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19-SharingEconomy