User:Risker/We are all paid editors

We are all paid editors
The proposed amendment to the Terms of Use of all Wikimedia sites, and its position that anyone receiving or potentially receiving a benefit from editing a WMF site, has the unintended consequence of deprecating the tens of millions of hours invested by millions of editors across hundreds of projects. The proposed amendment deprecates reward as a reason to edit. But there is not a single editor who has made good-faith contributions to a Wikimedia project who did not receive a benefit, extrinsic or intrinsic. In fact, the lack of intrinsic reward such as recognition of the value of one's work is often a key reason that editors leave the project.

Everyone, regardless of any other benefits that may come, starts out with the intention of making edits that they feel will make Wikipedia better. They create articles that they think will make it more complete, they fix errors in articles, they copy-edit, they remove vandalism or biased information. As they become more skilled, they participate in recent changes patrol, they take articles through audited content processes, they clean up copyvios, they evaluate new articles. Some do it for the pleasurable altruism of making Wikipedia better, or for the warm feeling that they get in sharing useful information; these are intrinsic rewards. Some do it because they gain stature within the community: as a respected editor, a helpful resource person whose opinion others seek, as an administrator, or someone with other advanced permissions indicating community trust and respect. These rewards are very powerful motivators, and they are no less important or valuable than a modestly increased bank account.

Hundreds of Wikimedians over the last 5 years have obtained gainful employment as a result of their participation in WMF projects: whether as a member of WMF staff (the current roster includes at least 60 people who were WMF volunteers before being hired, all the way up to the executive offices); as a paid GLAM intern (dozens so far, and increasing all the time); by including their volunteer work on a WMF project in their curriculum vitae, particularly when applying for positions within the tech or nonprofit industries. Hundreds more have obtained grants, scholarships, or other benefits from the WMF or a chapter because of their track record as a Wikimedia project participant. A recent WMF initiative sent out T-shirts to Wikimedians recommended by their peers. Many Wikimedians have participated in edit-a-thons and other activities where they receive gifts or other forms of recognition for their work. These are all Wikimedians who have received reasonably anticipated benefits from their work on our projects; not only that, they received compensation with "money, goods, or services".

Tens of thousands of editors work in areas that are within the scope of their personal expertise, and much of that expertise comes from their working life. This is true whether they're prostitutes or physicians, scientists or educators, game developers or archive curators. As a community, these editors are often sought after to assist in developing and improving our content in the areas where they are subject matter experts. We do this, regardless of the fact that some of them may focus on matters that could theoretically (or actually) impact on their funding or employment. Indeed, some educators expressly include Wikipedia in their classes, and many archivists and curators have "Wikipedia" in their job description.

And yes, some people edit specifically because they will receive a financial reward. Their edits undergo the same level of scrutiny as everyone else's. Their new articles still need to meet notability standards, and if they are written in a promotional manner, they will be tagged or even speedily deleted. Their edits to articles will be tagged in the same way as that of any other editor if they blank a section or modify certain types of information. Many of them have made an honest effort to behave in a very transparent manner in order to better interact with the community, only to find that they're belittled, marginalized, ignored, and even subjected to abuse; others have been treated with a reasonable degree of respect, although with (likely appropriately) increased scrutiny. But how many thousands of times have we seen article subjects (or people working on their behalf) abjectly abused because they've edited with a "COI" to correct errors or remove vandalism or BLP violations in the articles about them? How come so many of the articles that we're fairly certain were created by "paid editors" over the last few years have been kept because they're not inherently inappropriate; that is, they meet notability standards and are not obviously advertising?

In reality, we have long had the mechanisms available to us to make paid editing unattractive or unnecessary. More careful curating of existing articles and a more centralized and responsive process for article subjects to point out errors and bias would go a very long way in addressing one of the main "COI" editing issues. Clearer, more stringent, and strongly enforced notability standards will reduce the temptation to create articles for marginally notable organizations, products, and people. That, and getting over the notion that paychecks are somehow less respectable than the rewards that other Wikimedians receive for their work, will get us back to the reason we're all here.

Published here: https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Wikipedia_talk:Wikipedia_Signpost/2014-02-26/Forum&diff=prev&oldid=597893450