Crowdsourcing, Attention and Productivity

TL;DR

This paper analyzes how attention influences productivity in crowdsourcing, specifically on YouTube, showing that increased attention boosts uploads, while lack of attention causes declines, with uploaders adjusting behavior based on social comparison.

Contribution

It provides empirical evidence linking attention to productivity dynamics in online content creation, highlighting behavioral adjustments of uploaders based on social comparison.

Findings

Productivity positively correlates with attention (downloads).

Low attention leads to decreased uploads and possible cessation.

Uploaders compare themselves to others at low productivity levels.

Abstract

The tragedy of the digital commons does not prevent the copious voluntary production of content that one witnesses in the web. We show through an analysis of a massive data set from \texttt{YouTube} that the productivity exhibited in crowdsourcing exhibits a strong positive dependence on attention, measured by the number of downloads. Conversely, a lack of attention leads to a decrease in the number of videos uploaded and the consequent drop in productivity, which in many cases asymptotes to no uploads whatsoever. Moreover, uploaders compare themselves to others when having low productivity and to themselves when exceeding a threshold.