User:IsabellaCarufel/Report

Reflections from a Wikipedia Newbie
Going into the Wikipedia assignment, I did not know what to expect. I chose to edit the article, “Social media in the fashion industry” because I thought it seemed interesting and I love learning about evolving technology and fashion. This has been a unique experience and I am excited to reflect more on it in this essay.

1. Overall, I think the resources on Wikipedia were good for beginners, however, there are a few areas in which new user experiences could be improved. I would suggest adding an activity for a “final review checklist” in the style of the previous assignments. This way, instead of glazing over the checklist the student will have a better understanding of what last-minute tasks to complete. I think this list is really helpful in the pdf version, but it would be better in the structure of the other activities we’ve done on our Dashboard. Secondly, I would suggest adding files to review the content of assignments. I found myself going back to the assignments to review concepts, but it was a hassle to click through all the slides. Lastly, I would suggest that the Wikipedia dashboard establish a live help chatbot for users. It was difficult for when I had a question that is not covered in an assignment, I had to separately message my teachers for help which was time-consuming and hindered productivity. I think it would be helpful to have a live chatbot where students can get help for their questions and issues instantly. Overall, the features of the Dashboard were very helpful!

2. My experience on Wikipedia has been interesting. Once I started editing and adding information it was easy to navigate Wikipedia thanks to the weekly assignments. However, a week before our articles were supposed to go live, another user deleted half of the original Wikipedia page I copied into my Sandbox. I wanted to show my edits to the already deleted content, but I wanted to be conscious of other users. Through this experience, I realized I needed to find a balance of respecting other Wikipedia users and being confident in the article I edited. When it was time to make my article live, I was really nervous. It was quickly criticized by a Wikipedia user and was called “dumpster-fire” by other users because I bolded lines and used too many citations. I am grateful for Mako standing up for me on the Talk page and will take this experience, learn from it and keep it in mind as I go forward in the Wikipedia community. I feel that the intentions of this user were not to be rude but to maintain the standards of the Wikipedia community. I learned I cannot expect that all interactions on online communities would be pleasant, but it’s important to be respectful of all users.

3. The first theory I want to connect to is identity-based commitment, which is defined in the lecture as “Feeling like a part of the community and wanting to fulfill its mission”. When choosing an article, I wanted to help other people in this community learn more about something I was passionate about. Recognizing why you are committed to a certain community is what drives you to want to better it. This also connects to the social identity theory by Hoggs and Abrams which explains how people join communities based on the attractiveness of the group and how they categorize themselves within it. I chose to edit the article “Social media in the fashion industry” because I identify myself as a fashion lover, wanting to know more about how new technologies are affecting consumption and evolving trends. Even though I was nervous to start editing and publishing what I had written on the live version of Wikipedia I had to overcome those thoughts because I wanted to help people in the Wikipedia/fashion community who are interested in learning more about the topic.

The second concept that was reflected within my experience was surrounding newcomers and socialization. The socialization period for newcomers is an especially fragile time because they are easily driven away so it is important to socialize them appropriately. I think this theory was most applicable when someone commented on my work as “dumpster fire” because after I saw that, I did not want to write on Wikipedia again. It was discouraging having people instantly criticize something I’d been working on for weeks. This connects to the theory mentioned in the lecture on “legitimate peripheral participation” by Lave and Wenger, suggesting that individualized socialization of newcomers is most effective when experienced users have a critique that is helpful. Even though the comments left on my Talk page were rude, I know that in the future I will check stylistic and formatting choices twice before going live. Having a review from a user that wasn’t a teacher or student allowed me to receive unfiltered feedback from the Wikipedia community.

I think having advice from myself gives other new users a more accurate approach to starting Wikipedia. Most rules and guidelines are very helpful, but they are also written by people who have a lot of experience on Wikipedia. I think it's useful to have advice and knowledge of concepts and theories from people who are new to the process and can find flaws or extra tips and trips when starting the process themselves.

4. Overall I think the theories and concepts from class applied accurately to my first Wikipedia experience. As mentioned above, it was really useful for me to gain a good understanding of why people are committed to tending to these online communities and even provide justifications for their actions. Theories surrounding socialization and newcomers were also applicable to when I was having issues with users leaving rude comments on my page. The only theories that I did not encounter during this process were surrounding trolls, hackers, and spammers. Even though I did not have experience with this, it was still useful to know if it was an issue in the future.

In conclusion, I am proud of the work I’ve done for this assignment. Even though it wasn’t always smooth sailing, I felt supported and guided by my teachers, Wikipedia Education Dashboard, and knowledge of the theories presented in the class. I hope my article shares knowledge with people interested in this topic, and that I can continue to contribute to the Wikipedia community.

IsabellaCarufel (talk) 23:33, 14 February 2022 (UTC)