Assessing the overall value of an online writing community

The advent of internet has brought in changes to many existing stable business models. With the technological shift, the concept of community writing has undergone several changes. Using a sample of 181 participants, it was found that online community, of late, has been greatly impacted by technology. Community writing involves amalgamation of writers in the internet space; collaboration among the writers has evolved as a crucial aspect. Moreover, the members of the community play a pivotal role in terms of reading, sharing and voting for the appropriateness of content. In addition, it was found that social media, ranking of the website, the community maturity lifecycle and the returns that the investors expect on their investment too have a role to play. In this backdrop, several factors have emerged as important in determining the performance of these communities. This paper aims to elicit those significant factors and analyse their interdependencies and influences in assessing the overall value of an online writing community. Based on the literature in this respect and the gap, an entire list of factors were noted and a framework was developed. This model was then tested using PLS-SEM tool. The inferences from this study can assist in giving priorities to certain factors, which are found out to be important, while making this assessment. It shall also facilitate better and efficacious decision making and aid in developing effective strategies.