User:Jchoii97/Report

While learning and experiencing the platform, I was amazed at how nuanced the community of Wikipedia was. It is a space where there can be endless amounts of collaboration and allows individuals from all walks of life to contribute. As a student in the modern age of technology, there have been numerous times where I looked towards Wikipedia as a resource, and relied on the contributors to guide my research. However, learning the platform was a completely new experience and one that I probably would not have picked up on my own. As I had picked a Start article instead of a Stub, this simultaneously made my experience easier and more difficult. My article primarily consisted of lists with a short lead. Although I had more information to my article, and there were previously established attributes, there was a lack of context and historical information that I felt was important to my article. As my article was about “Cultural interest fraternities and sororities”, it was difficult to find where the origins of the entity as a whole had begun. The Wikipedia community at large is one that values objectivity to the highest degree, especially when there is information to be added to articles. Due to this, it was difficult to find information that was unbiased and to contribute to the article in ways that would not be disrespectful to organizations mentioned (as Greek lettered organizations take great pride in their identity). Although it was difficult, I found that the Talk page to be helpful in that it guided me towards the general vision of what previous editors had accomplished. It made me realize that the collaboration aspect of Wikipedia is important in the improvements of articles, and that edits are done with purpose and thought.

As a new editor, I was faced with the ultimate challenge of learning the platform and its language. Though this course had guided me through the steps that guided me towards making valuable contributions, there was a learning curve when it came to applying the skills that I had learned to the community itself. There were times where I had to go back and forth from the class module to my own article, and decipher and evaluate the weekly tasks at hand. Although there are multiple modules that are accessible to the general public, these modules appear intimidating to the everyday user. Completing and understanding these modules may take hours of practice, and can be a daunting task for the newcomer. Modules such as the one provided for this class may be useful, with shortened explanations and inclusive language that are easy to understand. These modules would be required before accessing the site, and must be completed before an account can be fully verified. I believe that this may grow the number of actual editors, amongst the over 3 million users that are on the site. Although Wikipedia is a free and open resource for everyone across the world, the implementation of required modules before entering the site, may encourage more long term collaboration, and safeguard the credibility of the information that is added to articles.

The Wikipedia community is extremely established in its normative values. As discussed in class, these normative values and behaviors are vital to the survival of the community and its users. Having these clear and decisive behaviors are those that guide the community to act and respond to each other, and create ways of practice that everyone in the community can follow. There are clear norms in reference to shortcuts such as “(WP:NPOV)” and “(WP:BOLD)” that editors refer to in order to maintain the credibility of the articles. These shortcuts guide editors to more comprehensive pages that explain the norms of the platform and uphold the regulation of a healthy community. As there are about 130,000 editors that actively contribute to the site, there must be a united understanding of these norms, to grow the community and its solidarity with its users. As Wikipedia maintains these norms, there is an addition of unity that comes with those that choose to participate. These editors are contributing to the platform for their own entertainment and free-will, and those that break these norms are disturbing the pre-existing community. Although Wikipedia encourages the “bold” contributions and edits by its users, the nuanced and detailed way of making these edits may be daunting to the new editor. That is why required modules may be an effective asset to the platform, as it ensures that there is at least some knowledge to newcomers to Wikipedia and to protect existing ones. It will reduce the amount of errors and moderation of articles, and create a more streamlined process to articles developing to an A or FA class while encouraging more users to be “bold”.

One aspect that is interesting about the Wikipedia community, is the need for donations by not only the direct community, but the outside community as well. Before this course, I remember the PSA banners that would adorn articles asking for small donations. These donations are what keep the domain alive. Wikipedia is one of the most commonly visited websites in the world, despite not utilizing ads or paywalls, and heavily relies on contributions in order to stay free and open to everyone. Being a bigger domain with daily heavy traffic, Wikipedia must spend more money maintaining the website and its infrastructure. This is one portion that has not yet been covered in class, and would be an interesting aspect that we could analyze. These free communities must be maintained by some type of monetary source, and where this money comes from and how this money is distributed can be interesting, especially comparing smaller free communities to larger ones like Wikipedia.

Wikipedia is a platform that I had the pleasure of learning. Although an expansive and complex community, I felt that my time learning about the norms and practices of the users of the website was well worth and created a new appreciation for the platform as a whole.