Starting Online Communities

What is it about?

Why do people start new online communities and what are their goals for their new communities? We surveyed hundreds of founders of new wikis on Wikia.com to ask them about their motivations for starting a new wiki, their expectations for what would happen with it, and their goals. We found that while there are many motivations, most wikis are focused on narrow topics and founders had very modest goals for their size.

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Why is it important?

Small communities are often seen as failures that aren't really fulfilling any purpose. This study shows that many of these communities are actually intentionally small and they can often meet their goals without ever gaining a large number of contributors or contributions.