Evaluation of the Support Function of a Knowledge-Creating Community: Visualizing Relationships Between Members in an Online Situation

Abstract

The visualization of social interaction is a key factor in improving knowledge- creating communities. In this study, we examine whether a visualized feedback function based on articles on a bulletin board system (BBS) can improve the quality of community members’ work. We developed a visual feedback function and compared reported activities in face-to- face and online-only environments using BBS log data. The data analysis for 2018 to 2020 showed that members used the visualization function continuously. Members also posted more creative article than in the period when there was no feedback function. A subjective evaluation suggests that the visualization function helped members and encouraged them to change their activities related to posting reply articles to colleagues on a BBS.