Global village or cyber-balkans? Modeling and measuring the integration of electronic communities

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Van Alstyne, M; Brynjolfsson, E
• 署名单位: Boston University; Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT); Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
• 刊物名称: MANAGEMENT SCIENCE
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0025-1909
• DOI: 10.1287/mnsc.1050.0363
• 发表日期: 2005
• 页码: 851-868
• 关键词: globalization; information economy; Information flows; computerization of society; Organizational structure; economic impacts; balkanization; social networks

摘要

Information technology can link geographically separated people and help them locate interesting or useful resources. These attributes have the potential to bridge gaps and unite communities. Paradoxically, they also have the potential to fragment interaction and divide groups. Advances in technology can make it easier for people to spend more time on special interests and to screen out unwanted contact. Geographic boundaries can thus be supplanted by boundaries on other dimensions. This paper formally defines a precise set of measures of information integration and develops a model of individual knowledge profiles and community affiliation. These factors suggest specific conditions under which improved access, search, and screening can either integrate or fragment interaction on various dimensions. As IT capabilities continue to improve, preferences-not geography or technology-become the key determinants of community boundaries.