Exploring Social Structure, Participation and Knowledge Dissemination within an Online Game Design Community: Sploder

This study explores social ranks, participations and knowledge dissemination within an online game design community. We describe how social ranks have evolved and supported the overall participation over time. We argue that higher social rank members drive the community in terms of forming effective idea and knowledge sharing. A multi-method analysis technique using content analysis, qualitative interview, and server level quantitative data of users in Sploder.com supports our claim.