The feedback loop between the online citizen science platforms and their participants: an empirical study of how institutions and motivations are shaped
Résumé
The earlier studies on commons focused on natural resources as commons, whereas the rise of
internet in the beginning of 90s brought the idea of knowledge being a common resource as well (Hess &
Ostrom, 2007). Considering that the natural commons face social dilemmas such as rivalry, where one person’s
use subtracts from another’s, commons governance means collectively organizing the excludability in such a
way that the resource is sustainable (Ostrom, 1990). If knowledge goods do not suffer from rivalry, its production
raises social dilemmas (Hess & Ostrom, 2007), in terms of quality management. Knowledge is also a resource
which has to be maintained and brings forth the need of corresponding collective governance mechanisms (Hess
& Ostrom, 2007), and of studies of such mechanisms. [...]