Article,

Experimental Study of Informal Rewards in Peer Production

, and .
PLoS ONE, 7 (3): e34358 (March 2012)
DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0034358

Abstract

<p>We test the effects of informal rewards in online peer production. Using a randomized, experimental design, we assigned editing awards or “barnstars” to a subset of the 1% most productive Wikipedia contributors. Comparison with the control group shows that receiving a barnstar increases productivity by 60% and makes contributors six times more likely to receive additional barnstars from other community members, revealing that informal rewards significantly impact individual effort.</p>

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