The social meaning of sharing and geocoding: Features and social processes in online communities

This study examines how emergent communities might show different patterns of uses and perceptions for communication and profile features when geolocation features are used. It explores the ways that location awareness moderates the social and cognitive processes that motivate people's participation in the sharing of personal information online. In a field experiment ( N = 94), participants were assigned to use customized websites with or without geolocation features that filtered information shared by and shown to the users. Participants' uses were captured with server logs, and their perceptions of the respective user communities were assessed with two follow-up surveys. The results suggest that the use of reputation systems has a positive influence on the perceived reciprocity in a community, which is even stronger when geolocation information is attached to user profiles and user-generated content. Second, the use of social matching systems such as tag-based recommendations of interests and connections is positively associated with perceived interpersonal bonds and social identities in a community. Geolocation awareness also reinforces the influence of the use of social matching systems on perceived interpersonal bonds. Finally, generalized reciprocity and social identification positively contribute to the perceived quality of information contribution. The implications for the development of online sharing communities through the design and use of reputation, recommendation, privacy and geolocation features are discussed.