1. In Asian cultures, such values as modesty and the desire to save face would constitute a significant barrier to active participation in online knowledge sharing communities. Posting questions online could be threatening to people, concerned with saving their own face: in an open forum like this, there is always a threat of ridicule. At the same time, responding to questions and making suggestions online could also pose threat to other people’s ‘‘face’’: what if the posted question was rather trivial, and the ease with which an answer was found hints at the inquirer’s incompetence? Finally, in cultures that put a significant weight on modesty, community members are likely to avoid being too active in online and other open-forum discussions, out of fear of appearing too immodest and boastful.