User:JasmineNJ/Report

Wikipedia Report:

Wikipedia is a platform that is known and used by many people around the world. I have used Wikipedia various times for various reasons, but I have never contributed as a user to the Wikipedia world. Being a fairly new Wikipedian, I had to learn many guidelines about Wikipedia to contribute to the page I was editing of Dutee Chand. I learned that Wikipedia is both intrinsic and extrinsic, heavy on plagiarism and copyright infringement, and has a goal of Normative commitment. Learning how to navigate through Wikipedia and following the rules was very challenging because there was no guidance on using the tools that Wikipedia provided its users. Wikipedia is a great resource for many things but as a fellow Wikipedian myself, I had my ups and downs. First of all, as I dive in more in-depth with how Wikipedia is used, I learned that Wikipedia could be both intrinsic and Extrinsic. Intrinsic plays a role when it comes to the human knowledge that's put into these individual pages such as the subheadings and headings. Professor Benjamin mentioned; “I think that intrinsic motivation. Although, you know, yes, it means that there are a lot of online communities that are focused on games. There's a lot of online communities that are focused on hanging out because a lot of people find those things fun. `` (Benjamin, 2024) Therefore, the page that I am writing about Dutee Chand as I was editing her page on my sandbox, covers a wide range of topics about her. It was interesting how fast the Wikipedia community replies in the “talk” section about things that they agree on or disagree on, or they would just take matters into their own hands and correct the mistake themselves. The information presented on Wikipedia is never limited to one person because anyone can collaborate and talk amongst each other. Additionally, Extrinsic is shown in Wikipedia because it plays like a tool rather than the content itself. Wikipedia is extrinsic because the information that it provides is used for various purposes such as research, education, and casual browsing. I learned that because Wikipedia is a website that is used by millions of people and is also used to gather information as mentioned, as an editor myself I have to constantly make sure that I am contributing correctly because I am also contributing to someone's internal factor. Additionally, Wikipedia should think about ways to expand its Wikipedia community, and these things could start with having tutorials on how to properly use Wikipedia. This would help decrease confusion and errors on the pages. Since Wikipedia is so broad and not limited to only one topic, there should be incentives for users to motivate them to stay and learn about Wikipedia. Although, some might say that incentives could be difficult because “a focus on individual incentives ignores social structure and interactions.” This could be prevented if rewarded correctly. Also, I strongly encourage Wikipedia to have a page where users can access the guidelines or regulations when using Wikipedia because if it wasn't for the plagiarism and copyright infringement, we learned in class then I would have probably struggled even more. Moreover, What I learned in week 2 in class, are two things that are not allowed on Wikipedia which are plagiarism and copyrighting. Plagiarism plays a huge role in Wikipedia because you can get banned if you use words that someone else used in a reliable source without giving them credit. Wikipedia could be an unreliable source if the information that is being presented to other Wikipedia users or just the public eye in general is not credible. Wikipedia is not based on one's opinion because that would create a biased source and things can get lost in translation. On the other hand, copywriting is when you are using someone else's work without having consent from the author. This can create problems within Wikipedia because then you could also get banned or it might bring other consequences. Furthermore, Normative commitment like Wikipedia is where there are clear goals and purposes for the community you're trying to reach. The community that will be engaging in my page are users who might be into sports, are interested in learning about the individuals who participated in the 2024 Paris Olympics or simply want to gather information about Dutee Chand to finish an assignment. In the article, I read about Facebook advocating for laws that will secure users' information from being transferred to other platforms, is a form of normative commitment because Facebook is an organization that many users are loyal to and feel obligated to use for many reasons such as having it for work, communicating with family members, or just the resources it brings “Facebook itself has advocated for data portability laws, and it is using Monday's launce to illustrate how firmer guidelines around the princess could enable a greater, and more secure, flow of data between services.” This ties back to the resources that Wikipedia has that make these individual users loyal. In conclusion, In the same way, as there are things that Wikipedia needs to change or improve on its page, they have good things for its users. I like how there are no limitations on Wikipedia and the fact that it's free. I learned more about different platforms and the barriers that some bring due to having certain restrictions for users to fully have access are the reasons why newcomers don't always stick around and continue to use that platform. As a new user, I have a lot of things to continue to learn but learned a lot throughout the way. Just like other websites that allow individuals to join communities within that community, many things need to be tailored to make it flow better for users.

Citation

Mako Hill, Benjamin. 2024 “Wikipedia Task 3.” https://uw.hosted.panopto.com/Panopto/Pages/Viewer.aspx?id=b10d27c1-ed6c-4367-b33f-b15500e14c80.

Feiner, Lauren. “TECH Facebook calls for data portability laws as it expands the types of info users can transfer to other services.” CNBC, 19 April 2021, https://www.cnbc.com/2021/04/19/facebook-expands-the-types-of-data-users-can-transfer-to-other-services.html.

Mako Hill, Benjamin. “Motivation and Incentives (Part 1).” Panopto, https://uw.hosted.panopto.com/Panopto/Pages/Viewer.aspx?id=130ad4c4-706d-4d42-96ca-b1350121c9d4.