Digital Platform Engagement and the Evolution of Collaborative Innovation Culture: A Cross-Disciplinary Study of Online Communities

Abstract

The rapid proliferation of digital platforms has reshaped social and economic interactions, transforming them into dynamic ecosystems for innovation. While the role of these platforms in facilitating collaboration is widely acknowledged, a comprehensive understanding of how digital platform engagement influences the development of a collaborative innovation culture within online communities remains elusive. This study addresses this gap by investigating the causal relationship between digital platform engagement and the emergence of a collaborative innovation culture, characterized by knowledge sharing, open feedback, and cross-disciplinary integration. Drawing insights from the co-evolutionary theory of markets and morality, we propose a novel framework that conceptualizes digital platforms as socio-technical infrastructures that foster new cultural norms for collective creativity. Utilizing a large-scale dataset from diverse online innovation communities, we employ advanced natural language processing (NLP) techniques to quantify collaborative innovation culture from user-generated content and apply instrumental variable (IV) analysis to establish causality. Our findings reveal a significant positive causal effect of digital platform engagement on the cultivation of a collaborative innovation culture. Specifically, increased platform participation leads to enhanced knowledge sharing, more constructive open feedback mechanisms, and greater cross-disciplinary integration within these communities. This research contributes to the literature on digital platforms, innovation ecosystems, and cultural evolution by providing empirical evidence of how technological environments shape social norms and behaviors. Practically, our insights offer actionable recommendations for platform designers and community managers to optimize platform features and incentive mechanisms, thereby fostering more vibrant and productive collaborative innovation cultures.