Frameworks for understanding knowledge sharing in open online communities: Boundaries and boundary crossing

Abstract

Earlier studies of Social Informatics aimed to understand Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) in organizational context (Dutton 2005). In the 1970 and 1980s, ICTs were primarily developed for and used in organizations such as universities, corporations, and governments. As the price of computer devices decreased, more computers were found in private homes, and studies of personal computers were added to the corpus of SI studies (e.g., Hara and Kling 2000). Then, in the 1990s, as more and more people gained access to the Internet, SI researchers started focusing on Internet use in various settings (e.g., Kling 1996; Kling, Rosenbaum, and Sawyer 2005). In the early 21st century, there has been a surge in social media use, which has led to a wave of studies seeking insight into user relationships with social media and the consequences of these activities (e.g, Turkle 2011). In line with this trend this chapter calls for studies of knowledge sharing in the social media setting from an SI perspective.