From Answering for Points to Commenting for Others.

In this paper, we examine posting behavior on a large-scale online knowledge sharing platform, Stack Overflow, and investigate how that behavior changes as users gain experience and status. We use a trace ethnographic approach, analyzing both the sayings and doings of users and the numerical and categorical trace data produced by their activities on the platform. Through analysis of this data, as well as interviews with users at different levels of experience, we identify a pattern of behavior where users shift their focus over time from directly answering questions themselves to supporting others and maintaining the quality of knowledge on the platform thus playing a particular role as the knowledge community scales