Content Success vs. Follower Growth: Unpacking the Dual Impact of Collaborative Creation on Creator Performance

Collaborative content creation (co-creation) has become a prevalent strategy for driving innovation and monetization in the creator economy. Unlike open collaboration among participants with limited interaction, co-creation among socially connected creators introduces external social capital through peer networks while simultaneously reshaping internal social capital as shifts in content style transform follower relationships. This reallocation of social capital complicates value creation and capture, making the impact of co-creation on creator performance difficult to predict. Drawing on value co-creation and social capital theories, this study examines how co-creation affects creators’ content- and account-level performance. We conceptualize value creation as occurring across two stages—content production and consumption—and investigate the moderating roles of network embeddedness and collaborator diversity. Using data from BiliBili, a leading Chinese creator platform, we find that greater engagement in co-creation enhances content-level performance but reduces follower growth. Network embeddedness intensifies both effects, whereas collaborator diversity weakens them. These findings reveal the inherent value trade-offs within co-creation and highlight the need to balance content innovation with a distinct personal identity in creator strategies.