The different count maxima by platform indicate data constraints, that discussion platform Reddit gave us data on the greatest number of communities, and multiplayer game World of Warcraft (WoW) the least. Within a platform, most communities are near the median policy count, while some have many more. Each histogram shows how many communities have a given number of formal policies, our measure of institutional formalization. With deeper insights into the patterns of successful self-governance, we can help more communities overcome the challenges of self-governance and create for their members powerful experiences of shared meaning and collective empowerment.Ĭommunities differ in their level of institutional formalization, within and between platforms. These findings suggest that designers and founders of online communities converge on styles of governance practice that are correlated with successful self-governance. Second, we find that online communities employ similar governance styles across platforms, strongly favoring "weak" norms to "strong" requirements. First, institutional formalization, the size and complexity of an online community's governance system, is generally positively associated with maturity, as measured by age, population size, or degree of user engagement. From this analysis we extract two major findings. We classify communities' written rules to test predictors of institutional formalization. To understand the relationship of formal institutions to community maturity and governance style, we conduct a large-scale quantitative analysis applying institutional analysis frameworks of self-governance scholar Elinor Ostrom to 80,000 communities across 3 platforms: the sandbox game Minecraft, the MMO game World of Warcraft, and Reddit. But in a community with formal rules, decisions are more consistent, transparent, and legitimate.
Indeed, scholars often downplay the role that formal rules relative to unwritten rules, norms, and values. Alternatively, they may require less formalization precisely because of their maturity. Communities that are more mature and established may have more elaborate formal policy systems. But the characteristics of successful institutional designs are unclear. This challenge often requires communities to design formal governance systems from scratch. Building a successful community means governing active populations and limited resources.
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