User:WanjiaRuan/Report

For this Wikipedia Project, I worked on the article P1Harmony. I provided more content for this article by adding different sections and expanding the existing information. During this process, I was able to acquire knowledge on the importance of conducting a thorough search of a topic, writing neutral article content, and finding reliable resources. I anticipate that these will be valuable assets for me in the future. While I have found the editing process to be very rewarding, I have also encountered many difficulties during the process. The objective of this report is to present my thoughts on how Wikipedia can be further improved by taking actionable steps based on my personal experience editing Wikipedia and utilizing the theories introduced in this course.

Before being a 'Wikipedian'
Firstly, most people know that Wikipedia is written and maintained by a community of volunteers, but few think about editing it themselves. The pages of Wikipedia are too steady without any notifications or signals that the community sends out to users regarding editing. This causes me constantly unaware of the fact that I can be a 'Wikipedian', and the community may also appear to be exclusive and unwelcoming to newcomers. In order to overcome this bottleneck, persuasive techniques can be used to increase participation. Some simple approaches could be to pop up a banner at the top of the page when people view stub articles that advocate for contributing. For instance, "Contribute to this stub article or find more here (provide the link to the stub article list)!" Join Wikipedia today and enrich the world's knowledge!' The notification contains a link that leads users directly to the area where they can make an explicit, visible, and effective contribution. Content on banners could be changed, utilizing intrinsic and external motivations to enhance the likelihood that people will be attracted to participate. This approach demonstrates that the Wikipedia community is actively advocating for the inclusion of new users in the community and is willing to assist them in achieving their goals.

First Step as a Newcomer
As a newcomer, I was afraid that any edit I made would lead to some irreversible mistake. Even though Wikipedia does have some protection strategies to reduce this psychological burden: create a sandbox for each user and WikiEdu. Still, the sandbox is not private and WikiEdu models contain much theoretical information and let users practice in the real Wikipedia. The need for socialization is not satisfied -- 'I want to engage, but still afraid.' Third-party platforms like WikiEdu provide a lot of help to Wikipedia. In my opinion, Wikipedia could create its own platform with the same goal, combining institutional socialization: different models and a complete curriculum, and individual socialization: providing a community and mentorship program for users to communicate with one another. It could offering users the option of creating a mock Wikipedia page as a training tool and develop a whole models for users. During training, users can sync their learning to the simulated page without the burden, and eventually 'publish' a Wikipedia page virtually to announce the end of the training. This way, platforms are protected more thoroughly, and users can practice their socialization skills without changing the existing Wikipedia - learning how to act appropriately.

Editing...
With Wikipedia, editing is very easy for users. I can make a contribution to an article by simply clicking 'Edit', which greatly increases my willingness to add small details. A more user-friendly and functional editing interface may encourage people to continue to participate and contribute over the long term. During the editing process, I will not be able to use some common functions (such as those found in word processing software). As soon as I encounter these problems and am required to search for information or switch to source editing mode to understand other people‘s code. A few subtle enhancements could be introduced, such as allowing editable and copyable templates, enabling certain table features, such as centering or batching rows and columns, as well as adding some shortcuts. As Choudary explains, as the network scales, these enhancements will make engagement more seamless and potentially lower the barriers and reduce entry costs.

Do not hide the community!
I notice that Wikipedia do have community such as 'TeaHouse' and community portal, but not significant. By placing a small icon in the navigation bar, users will have an enhanced sense of voice, reducing the rate of exit, and staying focused on what their needs are. I always discuss my experience editing Wikipedia with my friends and some of the problems I have encountered, but very few of them are aware of this role. Allowing people to have a common is extremely important, which could indicate a welcoming atmosphere. It would be beneficial for Wikipedia to show a 'broad scope' discussion area, besides narrow-scope communities('Talk') created for each article, where contributors can share their skills, meet people who have similar interests, and exchange ideas. Based on this idea, users will feel a sense of belonging and connection to the platform.

In addition, with the community that provides educational opportunities and mentorship for newcomers, Wikipedia could show its commitment to facilitating the process of socialization by providing a platform for people to communicate and form Q&A sessions. Through mentorship and learning opportunities, newcomers will be connected to the existing community in order to foster retention. Having an active conversation in a public space can also be an effective way of showcasing the platform's value and attracting new users.

Overall Feeling
To increase the number of editors rather than viewers contributing to Wikipedia, the community has to demonstrate that users are welcome and continually improve the user experience for users. Editing Wikipedia and making your work public is a very rewarding thing. This intrinsic motivation is better than any extrinsic motivation and can easily be translated into normative commitments. In addition to providing people with identity-based commitments, Wikipedia can facilitate such commitments by encouraging open communication.