Information Sharing Online: A Research Challenge

Abstract

We view information sharing as a promising target of research. Technology and human practice have been evolving toward more opportunities and varied manners in which information can be shared. We propose that 'information sharing' is best understood as a continuum, that concomitantly reflects behavioural, social, economic, legal, and technological influences. "Information" is a hybrid of both "public" and "private" goods. The mechanisms that enable, predict and catalyze sharing behaviour in online contexts should be of major interest to both scholars and practitioners of knowledge systems. We cite a spectrum of analytical as well as empirical research into the topic of sharing, identifying the methods and theories used in the approaches to date. We also review the major online technology genres of import for sharing. We suggest an initial map of constructs to chart future research on sharing.

Keywords: information sharing, public goods, disintermediation, lurking, free-riding, ownership, free information, commons, information system structure and process