User:Emilyngu3/Report

Wikipedia Reflection Essay

My Wikipedia experience began with completing the initial training modules on Wikiedu, that allowed me to learn about the components of Wikipedia, including using sandboxes, talkpages, and watchlists. Next, I was able to explore different articles on the site, and narrow down an article that needed additional contributions. I learned about notability on Wikipedia which is determining whether or not a topic is worthy of having its own article. The modules led me through how to draft my article in my sandbox, and add citations. After drafting my article, I was able to peer review other users’ articles, and receive feedback on my article. Lastly, I was able to move my article out of the sandbox into the live article. The user experience for Wikipedia was fairly straightforward for the most part, because the modules outlined detailed instructions for each step of the process, and allowed me to practice each part in the module tutorial. I learned about the process of creating a new article on a notable topic, and the steps necessary to edit a preexisting article.

After being able to explore using Wikipedia, and being part of the Wikipedia community as a part of this course, I observed that the Wikipedia community could have difficulties obtaining new users and contributors to the site. This lack of user recruitment and retention could in part be due to lack of incentive. A pattern that I have observed from cases that we have completed in the course so far is that sites that provide incentive to its users have more success in keeping users motivated and engaged to stay. The biggest motivations I can think of for users to stay on Wikipedia can be categorized as both intrinsic and extrinsic. Intrinsic motivations for users could be the desire to help others. Extrinsic motivators for using Wikipedia could include wanting to gain knowledge, as well as receiving praise from other Wikipedians for successful articles. All Wikipedia articles are able to be edited and improved upon by other users.

A component of Wikipedia are user talk pages, which allow other Wikipedians to comment on articles by and others and give them advice on how to improve their articles. Wikipedia functions with what I can almost describe as a checks and balances system, where Wikipedians can check the work of others and make edits to others’ articles. In addition, Wikipedians can also edit directly on the articles of other Wikipedians, although they are encouraged to work on their own sandbox pages first. However, aside from having a username, users are somewhat anonymous on Wikipedia. This anonymity fails to allow users to form a community and engage with one another. A suggestion that would maximize member retention on Wikipedia by allowing users to create personalized profiles with profile pictures and biographies, so that users are able to better connect and socialize with one another. My recommendations should be taken more seriously than random advice from one new user, because as a part of this course, I was able to explore other user generated sites, and observe what makes each site successful. The most successful sites in terms of member engagement were ones that offered some form of incentive or reward system, that kept users motivated to stay. Theses sites include Yelp and Twitch, which have both demonstrated their success in retaining users as a result of their incentivized activities. All Wikipedia users have access to the same benefits and capabilities on the site, so there are no apparent motivations for users to make accurate and quality contributions. The recommendations of myself and other students who have had similar Wikipedia experiences should be taken into account, because we all took part in the Wikipedia community in order to receive a grade for the course. However, I know that at least for me, I will not continue to contribute to Wikipedia after this course is over, because there are no incentives for me to keep participating. If Wikipedia wants to be able to recruit and retain members, they should take advice from users like myself, who have had the opportunity of using the site, and the possibility of staying on the site.

Different from other sites that I’ve interacted with, Wikipedia is a site that is wholly written by users. Anyone is able to make an account, and start editing encyclopedic material that can be made widely available to the public. Based on my experience, I personally will not be returning to Wikipedia as a contributor. I would continue to use Wikipedia as a source of information, but I will be more cautious of believing everything that I read in the articles, now that I know how easy it is for anyone to make contributions. Although there were multiple steps that needed to be taken before making my article live, other users, including trolls, are able to leave unnecessary comments on the talk pages of other users. To build a site that will ultimately function more successfully in the future, the Wikimedia community should create a community that builds commitment from its users. By implementing user profiles, and an incentivized reward system, Wikipedia will be able to retain more users through bonds, identity, and normative based commitments.