Zhang Lun, Li Yong-Ning, Peng Tai-Quan, Wu Ye
School of Arts and Communication, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, 100875 China.
School of Systems Science, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, 100875 China.
EPJ Data Sci. 2022;11(1):35. doi: 10.1140/epjds/s13688-022-00346-6. Epub 2022 Jun 4.
This study examined how the knowledge market promotes knowledge construction on question-and-answer (Q&A) websites. Data were collected from Zhihu, one of the largest Q&A sites in China. Hierarchical linear modeling was employed to estimate the dynamics of information accumulation, that is, the provision of informative content as factual construction. By employing information accumulation as the objective measure of knowledge construction, we determined that online knowledge construction was facilitated by a competitive marketplace of ideas. In addition, participation, temporal, and discourse features affected the dynamics of information accumulation. In specific, active users contributed significantly less to information accumulation than did ordinary users. Information accumulation shows a naturally decaying process represented as a function of answer order. The time interval between answers at the two preceding time points reduced the informativeness of answers at the subsequent time point. Answers with a higher readability score reduced the informativeness of subsequent answers. The results indicate that knowledge construction on Q&A sites unfolds as a process of mass collaboration among users.
The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1140/epjds/s13688-022-00346-6.
本研究考察了知识市场如何在问答网站上促进知识构建。数据收集自中国最大的问答网站之一知乎。采用分层线性模型来估计信息积累的动态过程，即作为事实构建的信息性内容的提供。通过将信息积累作为知识构建的客观衡量标准，我们确定在线知识构建受到竞争性思想市场的促进。此外，参与度、时间和话语特征影响了信息积累的动态过程。具体而言，活跃用户对信息积累的贡献显著低于普通用户。信息积累呈现出自然衰减的过程，表现为回答顺序的函数。前两个时间点回答之间的时间间隔降低了后续时间点回答的信息性。可读性得分较高的回答降低了后续回答的信息性。结果表明，问答网站上的知识构建是用户之间大规模协作的过程。
在线版本包含可在10.1140/epjds/s13688-022-00346-6获取的补充材料。
