Navigating the murky waters of collective rumination in organizational online communities
Naviguer dans les eaux troubles de la rumination collective dans les communautés organisationnelles en ligne
Résumé
Online Communities (OCs) though allow its members to seek and provide information, these can also become a breeding ground for collective rumination, a maladaptive pattern of collective focus on stressful experiences. While collective rumination at work has been studied, the impact of online spaces on its manifestation is yet to be explored. Building upon Knipfer and Kump's (2016, 2022) work on collective rumination, this paper proposes a conceptual framework that adapts to the unique features of OCs. This study explores the dynamics of collective rumination, emerging from interconnected social-cognitive-affective processes in OCsand proposes a model with four distinct stages. Based on the extant literature on OCs, three online-specific factors, including proactive and effective moderation/leadership, technology and the tech-driven online landscape, and self-organizing behavior, are found to influence its trajectory. This paper can guide future research and theorizing on this under-researched negative aspect of online collective behavior.