Exploring Threaded Discussion in Social Q&A Communities: Conversation Structure and Communication Structure

Authors

Pinglei Jia, School of Management, Shandong UniversityFollow
Jie Wang, School of Management,Shandong UniversityFollow
Hua Sun, Shandong UniversityFollow
Kangning Wei, Shandong UniversityFollow

Paper Number

1483

Abstract

In social Q&A communities, knowledge sharing activities usually take place in threads. However, little is known about how the discussions are constructed in different threads. This study fills this gap by exploring the differences of the network structures between effective and ineffective threads in Q&A communities. In specific, we investigate two forms of discussion networks at the thread level: the conversation network which focuses on relationships among the knowledge sharing contents, and the communication network which focuses on relationships among the participants. Based on an analysis of 252 threads from a social Q&A community, the results reveal different structures in both forms of networks between effective and ineffective threads. Effective threads tend to have more answer-related messages, less question-related ones, and higher conversational interactivity than ineffective threads. This study theoretically contributes to knowledge sharing processes in social Q&A communities and provides practical implications for practitioners in these communities.

Comments

Paper Number 1483

Recommended Citation

Jia, Pinglei; Wang, Jie; Sun, Hua; and Wei, Kangning, "Exploring Threaded Discussion in Social Q&A Communities: Conversation Structure and Communication Structure" (2022). PACIS 2022 Proceedings. 102.
https://aisel.aisnet.org/pacis2022/102