“If Many Were Involved”: University Student Self-Interest and Engagement in a Social Bookmarking Activity

There is interest amongst educators in engaging university students in learning communities through social web technologies. Asking students to create and share content through social bookmarking is often suggested. However there are few evidence-based evaluations of actual implementations of social bookmarking. This paper reports on one implementation, comparing the rationale for the learning activity from a teaching perspective with an interpretation of project outcomes from students’ perspectives. The authors found that despite students understanding the potential value of participation in this activity, it didn’t translate into actual participation. The authors explain this outcome by recognising students as rationally self-interested actors who find themselves in a ‘prisoner’s dilemma,’ using a concept from game theory. This analysis supports the authors’ conclusion that efforts to engage students must be directed to encouraging their belief that all students will participate.