Wikipedia Reflection

My Wikipedia Experience:

In Wikipedia I learned how to edit articles, find photos, gather better sources, and contribute to the community in multiple ways. I did not realize how “easy” per say, it is to edit Wiki articles. I figured there was a lot more to the editing process (which there is), but in the sense of writing and publishing it is fairly easy. The non-coding version of editing really helped make editing an article less daunting and proved you do not need to be a computer whiz to be in the Wikipedia community. Within the site, I was able to explore the Wikipedia Commons and talk pages which I had never encountered before. I am glad we used the talk pages, as I did not know that Wikipedia had a way to communicate with others. The pages are a great way to learn the norms and find out even more behind the scenes action that does not show up on the surface level of Wikipedia pages.

I found editing in Wikipedia a lot easier than expected, however the actual writing was harder than I thought. I got in my head a lot about if I sounded “professional” enough to be contributing Wikipedia and was surprised at how hard it was for me to write an article that only needed a few paragraphs. Although, the struggle with writing can also be attributed to the lack of sufficient sources available regarding the chocolate bunny. Being able to go back-and-fourth between the source editing and visual editing was a fun learning experience since I have little done with coding (the only coding I have done is in the Sims using cheat codes). When I was unable to understand the coding—which was most of the time, it was nice to be able to flip to the visual editing.

Actionable Advice:

I believe that the Wikipedia community could be more desirable to get people to want to edit and write articles. I am a very creative person and enjoy extrinsic rewards when I am using online systems and online communities. I think that making more interactive milestones for contributors would be a fun add-on. For example, if there were new achievements to complete that would lead to certain unlocked features, I think it would be more appealing for younger audiences.

Throughout school, I was told that Wikipedia was not a reliable source because anyone could edit. Due to this, Wikipedia in my mind was not a website that I would frequent for more than a quick search, let alone think to immerse myself into the community. While the image seemed to change when I got to college, I think that the Wikipedia foundation should try to reach out to younger audiences and primary schools in hopes to change their image for the better. While I am aware that anyone can edit articles, I think that the image of “unreliability” is false as there are many moderators and rules in place to avoid allowing false information to remain on the site for long. The Wiki Education programs were very informative and demonstrated that Wikipedia can be more than just a “cheat sheet,” for class, but instead be an interactive learning experience. Introducing high-school and middle-school students to coding and Wikipedia contributing would be a great project. Although it could be confusing at first, making the assignments and tutorials more interactive, colorful and extrinsically motivating would be a great way to encourage younger generations to join the Wikipedia community and prepare for a future in technology.

I personally experienced some hesitation when writing because I worried, I was not good enough to fit in with this community and be at the same level as other Wiki contributors. Due to this, I think it was harder for me to write my article out, as I was constantly thinking what I was contributing was not good enough. Thus, maybe utilizing more moderators and people in the community to check in often with positive comments and words of encouragement might be a great way to get people more comfortable and boost their confidence. I know it would be nearly impossible for people to write on every new article or sandboxes, but even adding some bots or animations with encouraging words or images would have made me feel a little more secure in my work.

Connecting to Themes and Concepts:

I recommend adding more extrinsic values onto Wikipedia. While it might be rewarding to know you contributed helpful information to the site, I think that it would not hurt for Wiki to be more “giving” in the sense of extrinsic motivators. Since I had to do this assignment for a class, I had to continue working in Wikipedia or else I would fail. However, I could imagine if I were only doing it for intrinsic benefit, I would lose interest quickly due to the lack of extrinsic motivations on the site that occurred while working. Moreover, I believe Wikipedia could do a better job at making at creating a “bonds-based” community. While that might not necessarily be what they are going for, I think it could help continue their engagement and bring a younger generation to the platform. For example, TikTok has become very successful in a short amount of time. There is a very strong sense of bonds-based commitment due to the ability to live stream, direct message, follow, gift and like people’s videos. The TikTok “For You Page” also provides videos that seem to be what you are interested in, thus bringing more opportunity to connect with those who like the same things as you. Although there is talk pages, I only felt bonds-based because it was people I knew from class. Most of the time, I can imagine talk-pages as an example of normative commitment (in the sense of obligation) rather than a more personal connection.

Since I am in a class that has studied online communities, and joined them, I think my advice has some more advantage than a random new user. I can use terms and concepts to back up the claims I have offered. The assignments required us to edit, revise peer’s work, research and contribute to the community. Thus, the assignment for the class provided more experience in Wikipedia than I believe most new users achieve in the beginning stages of their contributing.