The path to successful progression through the ranks of an open-source community remains unclear. Historically, the quality and quantity of one’s technical skills have been essential components in progressing through the ranks in OSS communities. Because participants conduct much of this work in coding repositories, the demonstration of technical skills drives outcomes. However, given that individuals do not typically meet face to face, as they would in a conventional organisational setting, various on-line impression management techniques such as self-promotion (i.e., tooting one’s horn) must play a greater role. This research explores the influence of these techniques on a participant’s progression within the Apache Software Foundation. Our study, based on a survey of 268 ASF participants, finds that online impression management helps some participants while hurting others.
