User:Ayna27/Report

Wikipedia Reflection

COM 481: Online Communities.

Wikipedia is the largest and most popular reference work on the internet. It has not only successfully expanded access to information but also has engaged a global community of newcomers, enriching the diversity of knowledge and perspectives. Throughout this course, I have learned how to navigate the landscape of Wikipedia with the help of WikiEdu resource training sessions and live demos during our lectures. These experiences have equipped me with a comprehensive understanding of the platform's guidelines and rules.

Wikipedia is doing an excellent job with their WikiEdu website. WikiEdu offers structured learning opportunities for newcomers like us to help enhance existing articles on Wikipedia and to courageously start new articles. When I was doing the training, one thing that really stood out to me was how they added a "provide feedback" option at the end of each training session. This means that Wikipedia is open for constructive feedback and that they want to constantly improve to help newcomers contribute confidently. It also provides a form of communication from expert users or newcomers to help developers of Wikipedia be more responsive and adaptive. The WikiEdu training sessions help build a bridge gap from newcomers to a confident contributor. By providing newcomers with guided learning experiences, Wikipedia uses identity-based and affective commitment strategies to foster a deeper connection with the Wikipedia community and their goals. Despite their success, I think Wikipedia could offer training sessions that focus on sensitive topics like cultural competence for editors and newcomers, to help foster a more inclusive editing environment. I think if Wikipedia were to implement this, it could help editors or newcomers to contribute more confidently with the right guidelines.

Drawing on my personal experience, I have never contributed anything on Wikipedia before this course because I felt very overwhelmed and scared. The first step for contributing on Wikipedia was to find the article that needed enhancement. It was crucial for me because the topics that I was very interested in were either very well-developed on Wikipedia or lacked sufficient reliable sources that I could find. I liked how we had to evaluate articles before attempting to help expand on it. This process helped provide a much clearer understanding of what improvements were needed, helping me envision the potential enhancements and how I could effectively contribute to the article's development. Second was to choose the article that I want to expand on and to create a bibliography. I felt that this stage was the most important and helpful for me as it created a solid foundation for constructing the article. Furthermore, by creating a bibliography before starting to edit, it taught me how to process my train of thought to focus on the important aspects of the article. I decided to edit the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry (Laos) article because I could see that I was able to contribute meaningful content to this article to help readers understand what the Ministry is doing. However, I started my article late, which resulted in missing out on deeper peer reviews from my classmates. Although this was a limitation, the feedback provided by my instructor provided valuable information, highlighting areas for improvement and doing live demos on Wikipedia. This experience has taught me the value of peer feedback in the editing process. This

Based on my experiences, I want to recommend a few enhancements to Wikipedia. Firstly, to mitigate the activities of trolls and spammers. They can significantly degrade the quality of the content and the overall user experience. By enhancing the community's ability to respond to trolls and spammers is crucial. This could involve training dedicated volunteer moderators who specialize in conflict resolution and digital mediation techniques, providing them with the tools and authority to address and resolve issues fast.

As a newcomer in Wikipedia, navigating the platform initially felt like a daunting task as it was very overwhelming for me. I quickly learned that Wikipedia is not just about adding new information; it is also about enhancing the accuracy, reliability, and comprehensiveness of existing content. This realization guided my approach to selecting articles that needed improvement, particularly those within my areas of interest and expertise. The guidance that I received from WikiEdu and my instructor really boosted my confidence in contributing to Wikipedia. The interactive elements of the training, such as peer reviews and feedback sessions, were particularly helpful. They offered a safe space to make mistakes, learn from them, and receive advice from more experienced contributors. Kraut and Resnick argue that 'different recruiting and selection methods lead to different degrees of player-community fit' (86). This insight underscores the importance of carefully crafted recruitment strategies that not only fill the community with new members but ensure that these members are well-suited to the existing community culture, thereby fostering better integration and engagement. I feel that Wikipedia was able to provide that service.