Global networks in collaborative programming

Abstract

To understand the dynamics of the digital knowledge economy, it is crucial to reveal the geography of global flows of knowledge on digital platforms. This article visualizes a key form of knowledge production in the digital economy: mapping the joint collaborations of users from different cities on Stack Overflow, the world’s most popular question-and-answer website for programming questions. The network map reveals that users from only a limited number of places are actively taking part in the exchange of programming knowledge. While Stack Overflow access and participation are theoretically unrestricted, contributions are clustered in metropolitan regions in North America, Western Europe, and South Asia. CODE AND DATAwww.github.com/Braesemann/GlobalProgrammingNetworks.