  In this paper, we explore the role that attribution plays in shaping user
reactions to content reuse, or remixing, in a large user-generated content
community. We present two studies using data from the Scratch online community
-- a social media platform where hundreds of thousands of young people share
and remix animations and video games. First, we present a quantitative analysis
that examines the effects of a technological design intervention introducing
automated attribution of remixes on users' reactions to being remixed. We
compare this analysis to a parallel examination of "manual" credit-giving.
Second, we present a qualitative analysis of twelve in-depth, semi-structured,
interviews with Scratch participants on the subject of remixing and
attribution. Results from both studies suggest that automatic attribution done
by technological systems (i.e., the listing of names of contributors) plays a
role that is distinct from, and less valuable than, credit which may
superficially involve identical information but takes on new meaning when it is
given by a human remixer. We discuss the implications of these findings for the
designers of online communities and social media platforms.
