User:Tschn012/Wiki Reflection

Wikipedia is not just a resource for me now. Not only can I say that I created something that is on Wikipedia the online encyclopedia but I can also say that I am part of Wikipedia the online community. I would say that this is one of the first things that I truly learned while using Wikipedia. That it is not just a site that can be used for information and it is not there just to be used as a resource for whatever research paper I am writing that week or that semester. In using and immersing myself in Wikipedia I now understand that it functions not only as the encyclopedia that I once knew it as but also as a full blown online community.

Newcomer Feelings
When I first understood that the class would be editing Wikipedia, I was a bit nervous; I had heard from friends that editing Wikipedia was difficult. I think that being thrown into the deep-end of editing Wikipedia and being required to take the online student orientation was helpful to me and essential to my success as a future editor and Wikipedia user. It helped me learn so much about what goes into the site beyond just: search topic, click related interesting link, click another interesting link, etc. Considering that I am still new to using Wikipedia as an editor it is very helpful to me that the site follows Kraut and Resnick’s design claim #13 from chapter 4 on regulating behavior in online communities. The fact that Wikipedia has a commonplace policy of, “Publicly displaying examples of appropriate behavior on the site,” the design claim continues to explain that this, “show members what is expected and increases their adherence to those expectations.” This benefits me because all the pages that show examples of proper pages and the right ways to code the page you are trying to edit, help me in modeling my page and others that I am helping to edit. It also makes it so that when I am on Wikipedia as an editor I know that there are rules as to how things should be done and I know that they can be found with appropriate examples on the site itself.

The Real Wikipedia Work
I honestly had no idea what to do when I was asked to create a Wikipedia page. I have such broad interests that I racked my brain for days and then still came up with nothing that hadn’t already been created on Wikipedia. To get more ideas I looked into the requested articles page and finally found something that made me say to myself, “I can figure out a way to write about this!” I enjoy beer and read a lot about craft beer and brewing out of basic interest and as a bit of a hobby. When I saw that there was a requested page for the Rye IPA beer I jumped at the opportunity and couldn’t wait to get started.Thanks to the workshop that we had in the library archives and the suggestion from professor Reagle to use the Wikipedia cheat sheet getting started was not a much of an ordeal as I thought it would be. After finding some sources that aligned with the rules of Wikipedia and using the suggestion from professor Reagle to use my own picture in the page I was creating my Rye IPA page started to look like a normal Wikipedia page before I knew it.

Collaboration and Gratitude: A real online community
In class we have talked about so many interesting and essential things that make online communities succeed through the times. When discussing good faith collaboration in class I cannot help but reference professor Reagle’s article on good faith collaboration and the section on assuming the best of others. Soon after this reading we discussed the idea of gratitude in class as well. During the readings and discussions of gratitude I could not help but think of this assume good faith ideal that Wikipedia thrives on. Assuming good faith as well as the various ways that editors are encouraged to thank other editors really sold me on being a Wikipedian. In class I often referenced my reddit usage to the point that I can be seen as a redditor but there is a different community feel that I have gotten from Wikipedia that I know I will never feel from reddit and I like that. From all the reading and discussion that we have completed thus far in class I can see that Wikipedia is a real online community that is not only collaborative but gracious and productive as well. It is interesting for me to now recognize that I my idea of Wikipedia and reddit have both changed now that I have had exposure to Wikipedia as a community. I now come to the conclusion that reddit is more of an online resource that I thought Wikipedia as where now I feel more of a community within Wikipedia. I know that everybody has their own experience in every online community, but because of this class I can firmly say that my idea of an online community has changed.

Conclusion
Upon reflecting on this project my conclusion is simple. There is so much more to Wikipedia then I ever knew and I want to be part of it. Wikipedia is not just to search for information for me anymore, I want to continue editing, creating, thanking people with barn stars and cheeseburgers and be part of a community that has flourished stayed consistent over the years that it has been prominent. Wikipedia paved the way for many online communities and I would have never realized this or given it a try in the community capacity fi it were not for this capstone class. My Rye IPA page is something that I am proud of and also just the beginning of my involvement in the community of Wikipedia. There is more to come and I am excited to be able to give back to the free encyclopedia that I have used so much.