User engagement in content production on social media platforms with cryptocurrency rewards.

A new context of social media has emerged for content production by providing users with cryptocurrency rewards. This dissertation focuses on crypto-based social media platforms in terms of user engagement in content production. The first essay theorizes whether and how cryptocurrency rewards motivate users to engage in content production. The empirical findings address the relationship between cryptocurrency rewards, price volatility, and content production behavior on a crypto-based social media platform. The second essay conducts an empirical comparison across five crypto-based social media platforms to examine the differential effects of features on user engagement in content production. The third essay conducts a content analysis of postings collected from a crypto-based social media platform to better understand what content characteristics will attract more cryptocurrency rewards.