Motivation to Contribute

If we think CI can benefit society, we need to understand how we can motivate individuals to engage in this type of collective problems solving. However, because CI covers such a broad area, including science, practical problem solving, and politics, this is a daunting task. Depending on the complexity of the task, the required skill level varies a lot. It ranges from innovation contests that often look for individuals with specific formal qualifications to citizen science projects that require simple image detection skills (e.g., Galaxy Zoo). Furthermore, studies of motivation in peer-production communities identify a mixture of motivations, such as social status, peer effects, prosocial altruism, and group identification. Single individuals are motivated by a combination of different factors, and this mix will also vary (Benkler et al., ). Some citizen projects target specific groups who have advanced skills. This group has a strong intrinsic motivation if the activities are closely aligned with their needs and interests. However, it may be difficult to include volunteers with both high and low skills in the same project (Hecker et al., ). One exception is Wikipedia, which has managed to offer a wide range of tasks at different skill levels. In innovation contests, prize money will obviously be important, but other intrinsic motivational factors are also influential (Baltzersen, ). Studies of open source software communities (FLOSS) have shown that it is possible to combine paid and unpaid contributions without excluding intrinsic motivational factors (Benkler et al., ). Still, most of the CI projects in this book typically center on noneconomic motivational factors. In a historical perspective, we have more spare time than ever before (Shirky, ). Many CI projects depend on this extra “time resource” because they rely on volunteering. However, the