User:GT YiWu

Hi Wikipedia,

I am a Computer Science undergraduate major and a student researcher at the Georgia Institute of Technology. I'm enrolled in a course called Design of Online Communities, and I am taking part of a study of the Wikipedia community for my class project, "Analysis of an Online Community".

I plan to study and analyze the WikiProject Avatar: The Last Airbender (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:WikiProject_Avatar:_The_Last_Airbender). I have been watching this Nickelodeon animated series since it's release and am a fan of the show. I also am beginning to study the WikiProject American Animation (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:WikiProject_American_Animation) and the WikiProject Anime and Manga (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:WikiProject_Anime_and_manga)

Throughout my time here, I will be as transparent, non-disruptive, and open as I can with what I am doing.


 * I will not record otherwise ephemeral conversations without permission
 * I have IRB clearance and approval to do this study
 * I am working with 2 other individuals as a team
 * They are studying their own WikiProjects, and we will get together and write a paper that compares the our WikiProjects and tries to understand deeply how subgroups form, how they organize themselves, how newcomers became part of the community, why people write for Wikipedia, what incentives do they have, how is governance, how rules are made, interpreted, enforced, etc.
 * I will be taking "field notes" during my time here about
 * What did I do?
 * What struck me as interesting?
 * Did I gain any insight into the site's design?
 * In what ways does the site function well, and in what ways poorly?
 * Can I tie user behavior to specific design decisions made by the site designers?

I am also eager to find 3 volunteers from my WikiProject Avatar: The Last Airbender and American Animation for face-to-face or voice-chat/phone interviews. These interviews will help me write an accurate and faithful study and analysis of the Avatar Wikipedia community.

Please feel free to contact me if you are interested in my study and have interest in participation.

The link to the IRB Web Consent Form is here:

As this is my first time taking part of the Wikipedia community, if I am being disruptive, disrespectful, or just behaving deviantly against the community culture, please tell me and I will change my ways.

Yi Wu

gtg120q [ a t ] mail [ d o t ] gatech [ d o t ] edu

Georgia Institute of Technology

Atlanta, GA 30332