DO DUGG DIGGERS DIGG DILIGENTLY? Feedback as motivation in collaborative moderation systems

The commenting patterns of a sample of 6,468 users on Digg. com demonstrate that feedback from other users affects participation in three ways. First, themore explicit feedback a user receives, in the form of moderation votes on their comment or responses to their comment, the sooner they contribute again. Second, commenters generally become more able to generate feedback as they become more experienced contributors to the site. Third, there are some common features of comments that receive more feedback, and the feedback system reinforces these standards. By making the process of community feedback relatively accessible and measurable, Digg provides an opportunity to observe the process of socialization into a community and inculcation of community standards.