A Case Study on the Baidupedia Users´ Participating Motivations

Peer production is a newly emergencing mode of knowledge production, which is quite different from the traditional knowledge production. Peer producers couldnpsilat get any payment for their participation normally. Baidupedia is a typical and popular Chinese peer production project, and all the Baidupedia users are peer producers of Baidupedia project. In current research, using open-ended interview, we explored the participating motivations of 10 Baidupedia kernal users and 65 Baidupedia ordinary users respectively, then we investigated the general characteristics of Baidupedia userspsila participating motivations. As a result, Baidupedia kernal userspsila participating motivations were different from those of Baidupedia ordinary userspsila. And Baidupedia userspsila participating motivations were diverse, including motivations of use-value, need to know, interest, reciprocity, intercourse, competence, money and status, and the most outstanding one was the use-value motivation.