Content Attraction and Content Quality Assurance in an Online Collaborative Content-Oriented Platform

Abstract

Information overload is a repercussion of the web enabled information age in which we live in. Individuals, commercial organisations and communities are fuelled by never ending curiosities to not only seek knowledge but also to share it. Sharing occurs in online content orientated platforms such as wikis, forums and e-commerce platforms, all of which are open or private and easily accessible. The longevity and validity of the information on these platforms is determined by sustained successful content contribution and the provision of content quality. The work presented in this thesis adopts the focus of successful online content-orientated platforms ensured by utilisation of content attraction mechanisms (CAM) and Quality assurance Mechanisms (QAM). Initially, literature is reviewed to examine how current academia views quality and content attraction within these platforms. Exemplars of platforms are then surveyed to deduce mechanisms which contribute to development of the resultant research artefacts of the thesis. The research presented in this thesis makes several contributions to both academia and practice. The work presents conceptual frameworks, system frameworks and architectures, prescribing successful online content-orientated collaborative platforms through use of mechanisms which help attract content and encourage participation but also help to assure the quality of the content. Additionally a systems architecture based on the MediaWiki and Semantic MediaWiki stack is created to aid in the validation of frameworks and concepts presented in the thesis. The architectural solution is implemented by platforms that embody the principles of successful implementation of attraction and quality assurance mechanisms in an organisational setting. The implementation consists of a uni-body platform, a MediaWiki chassis that has different extensions of assurance mechanisms and quality control mechanisms configured as per the requirements of OCCP success. The system implementation is evaluated against the criteria of design science artefact validation tenets, however due to the scope constraints of a master’s thesis some evaluative approaches of FURPS weren’t feasible to conduct. The implementation proves to be representative of the frameworks, concepts and system architecture, normative of a successful platform focusing on sustained success through execution of content attraction and quality assurance mechanisms that tailor to the needs of OCCP success.