Specialization or Diversification? Creators’ Strategies on User-generated Content Platforms

Recent advancements in digital platforms have reshaped content creation and distribution. User-generated content (UGC), created and shared by internet users, is transforming entertainment, communication, and information sharing. The rise of UGC has fueled the growth of the "creator economy"—an ecosystem of creators, users, and advertisers facilitated by platforms such as YouTube and TikTok. While prior research has primarily explored how UGC platforms incentivize content quantity and quality, this study advances the literature by examining how creators' content strategies influence consumer attention and how platform mechanisms shape this relationship, offering new insights into the interplay between creator behavior and platform design. Drawing on attention economy theory and using a large panel dataset from a popular short video platform along with econometric models, the study analyzes how creators' strategic choices between specialization and diversification affect both initial and sustained consumer attention. It also investigates how platform interventions—specifically algorithmic rankings and membership promotion—moderate these effects. The results show that level of specialization is negatively associated with both initial and sustained attention. However, algorithmic rankings and membership promotions can partially mitigate these effects—particularly by buffering the impact of specialization on sustained attention. This study contributes to UGC platform literature by advancing a novel lens on the relationship between creator strategies and consumer attention, highlighting how platform mechanisms and creator agency jointly shape the attention outcomes. By unpacking this interplay, the study deepens our understanding of platform governance and inform platform design by highlighting how different intervention strategies can support diverse creator strategies while sustaining user engagement.