User:Alaina.marcotte/report

Wikipedia Reflection Essay
Joining wikipedia was a challenging and rewarding experience that allowed me to apply what I was learning. As a newcomer my feedback is coming in the form of someone who has never used this site and wants to help attract newcomers and push for retention.

At the start of working in wikipedia it was overwhelming. I’ve never been part of an online community that was this dynamic, had strict guidelines, but also the freedom to create. I learned how to tell if a topic was notable, what sources are credible, how to write in an encyclopedic tone, and how to avoid plagiarism; helping me expand an article. A feature done well to motivate participation is the ask and ye shall receive concept. It was easy to start working with a list of stubs that the site identified as what they needed help with. While exploring the site I utilized the information taught in the training modules to work in my sandbox, evaluate articles, and create quality content. Even as a good faith newcomer, I could damage the community by accident because I don’t know the rules. The sandbox created a safe space for me to “mess up” without causing damage.

A large part of my experience was peer reviews. The ability for wikipedians to edit others' work ensures quality content and members are able to contribute and stay involved. Learning to give and receive constructive criticism was a process. It started as intimidating, but became invaluable to better my work. After making my article live, it was edited by a wikipedian who cut out most of my work then rewrote the rest. While it was disheartening at first, the comments helped me understand what others see and how to improve. I went into my sandbox and used their comments to edit my work. It was shocking to see someone quickly find and edit my work, but shows how active members are.

The main concepts that applied to this assignment were how to motivate, types of motivation and commitment. They were easily identifiable and helped me understand why the site became successful. Members of the community have thought of these concepts and used them to their advantage. It was interesting being in a situation where I was experiencing it first hand and seeing what worked and didn’t. I was extrinsically motivated by a grade to develop a stub article with a needs based commitment. The concepts that weren’t applied were principles for dealing with newcomers, socialization for newcomers and how a community grows and thrives. I noticed these primarily because I was a newcomer. It’s easy to see why someone would stay in the community once they’re invested, but getting to that point and attracting new people wasn’t clear. The site is already developed and out of the beginning stage where these concepts apply. If I were to change something I’d like to learn more about the struggles and threats wikipedia experiences. As a well developed community I want to understand what obstacles they face and how they maintain membership. Most of the course content focused on how to get to the place wikipedia has achieved.

I learned that Wikipedia has different awards. To continue acknowledging members that earned these, add a section on the main homepage to highlight order of the day, editor of the week, etc. This introduces members to each other and praises the good work they have done for the community. The awards are extrinsic motivations in the form of status, but acknowledgement builds on this by adding praise. This type of social recognition provides the rest of the community with a motivator. Next, most people know wikipedia for its abundance of information, however, less know about how to contribute. Wikipedia should advertise more whether informal or formal. Spreading the word over social media will inform people of the different dimensions wikipedia has to offer, especially those passionate about specific topics. One principle for dealing with newcomers is recruitment through advertising. Since wikipedia isn’t looking for specific individuals this strategy can be effective.

The site has many aspects that make it easy to become overwhelmed. An introduction training would be beneficial to breakdown what community members do, the different pages, and tools the site has to better utilize what’s offered. I did training modules through wikiedu because of class, this should be an easy entry requirement for anyone joining the community. Guidance through the platform will make the guidelines and intention of the community clearer. From what was discussed about retention in class this suggestion aligns with creating tools and designating people to help newcomers. Finally, the homepage of wikipedia has information moving your eyes in different directions instead of a certain flow. To encourage people to go to specific pages, make links more intuitive to click by enlarging the font or pushing a certain reading order, instead of only having links on the sidebar in the same color and font size. Good web design and an easily navigated website is a signal for future success and invites newcomers to explore.

My recommendations should be taken more seriously than other new users because of the context I joined the community in. With the help of awarded wikipedians, I’ve been analyzing my experiences with the lens of the theories and principles taught in class. I worked within the community for many weeks to figure out how it functions. My advice stems from material that has been researched and identified to help online communities and isn’t blind advice. Additionally, my stance is only to help the community better itself and thrive.

Wikipedia’s a unique part of the greater wiki universe that has created different branches and niches for its members as it grows. It’s an online community that helps serve the general public as an encyclopedia. This differentiates from the communities I’ve studied because it serves people outside and in its community. Being able to interact with the community has helped me understand the concepts I have learned.