User:Ellegross/Win20 COM482 Wiki Report

Contributions
Throughout the duration of the course, Interpersonal Media: Online Communities, the information discussed regarding certain groups of individuals in online forums influenced my understanding of Wikipedia and determined the majority of my contributions.

After learning about the different degrees or ratings articles receive based on the depth of information and credibility of sources they entail, (typically judged by affluent wikipedians), I used that information to then determine what article I wanted to improve. As I began searching through numerous subjects with the wiki-ed article finder tool, I eventually stumbled upon Dutch Bros Coffee, an Oregon-based coffee drive-thru chain i've purchased drinks from several times. The article was rated, S-class, insinuating it has wide room for improvement. When first analyzing the original article I read through the talk page for existing conversations and recommendations from several existing wikipedians. In the talk page was I able to pinpoint what specific improvements I should be making and what I should begin researching. For example, it was mentioned that one of the brothers that founded Dutch Bros Coffee had passed away from disease years ago and in respect the article should mention his passing. Furthermore, it was discussed in the talk page that the main photo for the company brand was too dark and needed editing.

Summary of Edits

In order to improve the physical appearance of the Dutch Bros Coffee wikipedia page I initially went in and created headings and subheadings-categorizing the existing information so it will be easier for readers to scan and navigate to the info they are looking for. On the personal sandbox page I created for the site I began making grammatical edits to the existing information. In class it was suggested that the lead or the first paragraph within the wikipedia article act as a brief summary only mentioning categories in the article without giving away or repeating factual info that will later be discussed. I felt the Dutch Bros Coffee article went straight into the history and "fun facts" relevant to Dutch Bros Coffee without creating a nice summary or "cushion", and then going into further detail later. Something I consistently kept in mind when researching and implementing facts into my wiki article- was to write things completely in my own works without providing too much personal narrative that will bore the reader. I reworded some of the straight forward facts in the article making them flow and fit conveniently under their heading or subheading. I felt my edits for the Dutch Bros Coffee wiki page were valuable as they contributed nicely to the structure, and format of the articles overall appearance; as well as provided the reader with updated information on the companies expansion and history. I find Dutch Bros Coffee a well-known, rapidly growing business in the pacific northwest that will eventually make its way to all western-central states in U.S. so I find intrinsic motivation in improving its appearance on Wikipedia.

In comparison to other articles, I feel mine provides good visuals and a solid base for readers and other wiki contributors to add new information on Dutch Bros Coffee.

Peer Review Process
When giving feedback to my peers on their articles I focused heavily on the structure and text within their articles suggesting ways to move around/ reword their existing information. For example, one of my peers was working on an article about rent parties and within the first few paragraphs of the article I felt it disclosed important historical evidence that could have been added later in the article under the "History" heading. Also I noted when peer reviewing, in one of the articles the information was from one source or reference; I explained that it would be beneficial to have multiple credible sources that way you steer away from a biased perspective.

Some of the feedback I recieved pertained to creating a stronger lead and adding external links to strengthen my work.

Course Suggestions
My experience as a new-to-decent user on wikipedia was overall positive and mainly made possible to the wiki-ed tutorials. With the invaluable knowledge I have learned regarding online communities like that of wikipedia and its users, I now feel confident when researching and reading information from various wiki pages. With the invention of bots, and wikipedia moderators (super heroes), I learned that any mistake or edit that seems like spamming, trolling or otherwise clueless behavior to an article will be resolved either within the minute or the latest 24 hours.

After understanding the rules of wikipedia and value older users in the community put into maintaining the site I have built a new respect for Wikipedia. If I never took this class I probably would have continued to view Wikipedia as a potentially fabricated and cluster of a website.

Feedback From Wiki Editor

I received feedback from a wikipedia editor after attempting to publish a photo on wikipedia commons from the flickr website. Turns out the photo couldn't be published due to certain copy right laws on flickr, which was unfortunate but now I know.

I really enjoyed participating as an online user for Wikipedia. I never would have thought, nor considered this to be a platform I would contribute to. Something valuable I learned is that wikipedia may be written in less factual tones, however it is still credible and should be utilized when researching mostly anything. This assignment differed from anything i've ever done before as I went into it with the knowledge of being an active contributor. Wikipedia can be improved to increase knowledge & awareness- potentially hosting seminars available to the public would be useful. I think inviting curious students, athletes, librarians, whoever into a space where they can learn a crash course on what makes wikipedia a good resource, can help alleviate concerns and or motivate new and existing users.

If used with good intention, Wikipedia can be a valuable source of information. It is crucial to post reliable information on the internet because it improves the overall quality of the site, and gives its readers confidence and knowledge they would have otherwise not know.