Editing Ecology of Online Communities/Community rules study (section)

= Overview =

Why and how do online communities adopt specific (and often very similar) rules, norms, or code(s) of conduct? In particular, why do communities with different goals, members, and leaders often have such similar or even identical rules? Communities with overlapping membership seem to specialize and differentiate themselves in terms of topical focus. Similarly, in platform environments with many communities, individual participants might choose to join a particular group based on some aspect of the rules or norms that distinguishes it from the others. At the same time, communities may face pressures to imitate successful, well-known peers or adopt widespread, familiar standards in order to lend themselves credibility and legitimacy. Whatever the case, the specific reasons, mechanisms, or processes by which communities select and adopt rules remains outside the scope of prior online communities and social computing research.

In this project, our research team will try to understand the processes and purposes of rule adoption through a comparative study of multiple online communities in multiple settings, including subreddits, Fandom wikis, Fediverse servers, and free and open technology projects. Within each setting, we will identify communities with similar rules and conduct interviews with community leaders, administrators, and moderators to learn how and why they adopted their rules.