First Monday is one of the first openly accessible, peer–reviewed journals on the Internet, solely devoted to the Internet. Since its start in May 1996, First Monday has published 1,278 papers in 205 issues; these papers were written by 1,714 different authors. First Monday is indexed in Communication Abstracts, Computer & Communications Security Abstracts, DoIS, eGranary Digital Library, INSPEC, Information Science & Technology Abstracts, LISA, PAIS, and other services.
 | This month: June 2013 Effect of external events on newcomer participation in open source online communities Newcomer participation is a strong determinant of the success of online communities, particularly open source software development communities. Most research on newcomer participation in online communities to date has focused on internal socialization mechanisms that shape participation. This paper investigates the effect of company announcements made by OSS steward firms, events which are external to a community, on participation in two communities, a Java newcomer forum and a MySQL newcomer forum. We found evidence that company announcements had a substantial effect and participation either increased or decreased. Through analysis of secondary sources we conjecture that announcements indirectly shape participation by influencing newcomer motivation. Announcements perceived as hostile to open source values have a significant negative effect on participation, whereas announcements that were perceived as friendly either significantly increase participation or have no significant effect. |
 | Also this month! Assigning Wikipedia editing: Triangulation toward understanding university student engagement Professors across the United States participated in the first direct effort by the Wikimedia Foundation, the non–profit organization supporting Wikipedia, to engage the academic community and use Wikipedia in a class assignment. Three project participants, from different areas of study, conducted independent research into university student motivations for a Wikipedia assignment. This paper describes how student motivations differ for a Wikipedia assignment from a traditional research paper assignment. Students appreciated the usefulness of contributing to Wikipedia and found satisfaction in making information accessible to the public worldwide. Students engaged with an online community and appreciated feedback and collaboration. Some recognized a degree of possessiveness that they felt toward the article. Both instructors and students observed that student research and writing skills improved. Qualitative data from both students and professors indicates that in learning basic writing skills, a Wikipedia writing assignment is comparable to a traditional research paper, however, students are more engaged in a Wikipedia assignment. |
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