What Makes Online Groups and Pages Sustainable: An Examination Using Samaritan’s Dilemma

Authors

Tanu Shree, Indian Institute of Management RaipurFollow
Sumeet Gupta, Indian Institute of Management RaipurFollow

Abstract

Members and admins derive utility from online groups and pages in different ways. Since their utilities differ, any group related strategy to maximize their respective utility also varies. This tradeoff is more prominent in long run because groups must maximize utility to members and not only suffice admin’s utility of group sustenance. This paper is an attempt in prescriptive diagnosis directed towards social media pages and group admins motivated to sustain their pages and groups through increased contribution of posts. We explore two dilemmas occurring due to tradeoffs between utilities of members and admin and also long-term and short-term utility goals in an online group. While addressing these tradeoffs, we simulate user’s utility maximization behavior using generalized and non-contextual utility functions applicable across all online groups and pages. We mathematically confirm the applicability of Samaritan’s dilemma in this context and draw strategic implications about the measures to resolve these dilemmas.

Recommended Citation

Shree, Tanu and Gupta, Sumeet, "What Makes Online Groups and Pages Sustainable: An Examination Using Samaritan’s Dilemma" (2020). PACIS 2020 Proceedings. 33.
https://aisel.aisnet.org/pacis2020/33