User:Kaylynn Nelson/Wikipedia Reflection Paper

Contributing to Wikipedia was similar to learning how to ride a bicycle. At first, I used training wheels and had an uncomplicated time in the sandbox while writing my article. Once published, the training wheels were taken off, resulting in an admittedly shaky and a bit daunting process. However, all it took was a bit of practice and before I knew it I was performing tricks like applying Wikipedia shorthand to sign my contributions with four tildes. Likewise, those seemingly impossible citation formats became laughable, just as riding with one hand became effortless. Perhaps the biggest difference between the two experiences was that with one I had my older brother to support me, while the other one provided me access to an entire online community who assisted in the success of my article.

For instance, when I first published my article, I was soon tagged to amend my citations so that they were congruent in form. I wasn’t frustrated that someone had instructed me to do so. On the contrary, I was happy that this incongruence was pointed out to me so that I could fix it myself. The power to rectify my own work was gratifying and allowed me to take pleasure in fixing it. Thus, I saw the feedback as constructive and felt in control of my article through the editing process. This feeling I had directly correlated with Robert E. Kraut and Resnick Design Claim 17, and I too felt as though the feedback was clear and I was in control.