User:Chrisuw/Report

I made my first Wikipedia edit back in the 7th grade. I remember being excited that I had my work published on the internet only to be saddened by the edits being reversed. Still to this day, I don’t know what I did wrong. Fast forward to nine years later, I am proud to have my work displayed when I search the topic.

I highly credit “Wiki Edu” in helping me understand the policies and functions of Wikipedia. I believe the tutorials should be offered to everyone who considers editing articles. The tutorials made me confident in my contributions and it allowed me to understand Wikipedia’s policies on plagiarism and copyright rules for images. Since the course may not be accessible to everyone, I recommend Wikipedia provide optional training videos on each topic for new users after creating an account. The reason for it being optional is because it doesn’t create a large barrier of entry and if editors get their work removed, it is on them to correct their mistakes. As far as training videos, I think it’s one thing Wikipedia should consider changing in the course as well. It was difficult to understand concepts through text. I found the most effective learning experience was the “Be Bold” tutorial or the “Talk Page” tutorial because it was interactive. Since the interactive tutorial might be a lot of work, having a step-by-step walkthrough video will allow users to process the information and see where the tools were located on the page. If it was for a course, a quiz could be prompt following the end of a video to track completion and apprehension.

           With the training, I was able to understand the different scales of an article. To find an article, I had to brainstorm ideas to see what my interest was. These included traveling, culture, and a historic site. However, the articles I came upon were either non-existent or already highly rated. I knew I wanted to start with a Stub class on the rating scale because the material we covered in class mentioned that simple projects are more generative because they are likely to be incomplete and may invite elaboration. I did not know too much about my topic nor was there much information on it, yet I was interested because I knew I could make minor changes and I had an intrinsic motivation to contribute. There was a list of articles that needed to be improved provided by Wikipedia but those topics to be too specific. I suggest Wikipedia find a better solution for article recommendations like an algorithm from a questionnaire. I believe this will encourage more newcomers and existing users to make consistent edits.

Going along with the difficulties of finding articles, it may be difficult to capture engagement. As a typical user, I wouldn’t go out of my way to edit every single Wikipedia article I encounter. Therefore, a solution will be to implement a reward-based system. Implementing something like points for a privilege or status will encourage people to do more research and make more edits. Points would only be allocated to changes that are credible and follow the norms of Wikipedia. As a reward, points would show on a user’s home page as well as all the articles they have contributed to. The suggestion may go as far as dedicating usernames on a Wikipedia page (like a hall of fame) or having their own Wikipedia page if they hit certain points or milestones.

One thing Wikipedia does exceptionally well is creating a welcoming community for newcomers. From my experience, there was socialization from the beginning with a message from a team member, our instructor, and classmates. The interaction with the team member was friendly but I wasn’t sure if it was an automated message. Some newcomers may not have access to the instructors or classmates so I would have liked to see a more personable message. Wikipedia could create a sub-community like Reddit and designate a long-time user to welcome a newcomer. Not only will this enhance social acceptance, but this will also reinforce the sandbox, a safe learning and experimentation space as they would be able to reach out to someone if they had questions. This will boost a user’s engagement and commitment moving forward.

To wrap it up, I would have to say I truly enjoyed my Wikipedia journey. Making an account was simple, working on the sandbox allowed me to learn through trial and error, and making the article live was very satisfying from a needs bond. During my earlier attempts to join the Wikipedia community in 7th grade, I was not aware of the talk page or the history page. It goes to show that Wikipedia excelled at supporting self-selection. Having the right people join and keeping the wrong people away. Now that I have gained experience, I have a much clearer view of the community and will continue to improve articles that meet my interests.