User:Winnie54/Report

Evaluation Essay

Wikipedia should make Wiki Education more accessible. For instance, it should be shown or advertised on every article to allow readers to be aware of this valuable resource and utilize it efficiently. Even though Wikipedia is a renowned encyclopedia, many individuals are still unaware of the self-contribution features and the ways to create an article. Other than that, one thing Wikipedia can consider changing is the credibility of their anonymous contributors. Having contributors validate their article will allow others to use the information presented in the article as a source by referencing the authors thus making it useful for research and school work. At the same time, Wikipedia can also enhance the quality of their content to become appropriate to use as a reliable source. I think it would be more beneficial for researchers and students to use Wikipedia as a source and cite the contributors since the creation of the articles on Wikipedia are based on reliable, credible and scholarly sources.

Like Purdy mentioned on Using Wikipedia as a Source, there are two factors on why school faculties dislike the use of Wikipedia as a reference. The first one is open participation “anyone, regardless of background, qualifications, or expertise, can write Wikipedia articles” (p.207). Therefore, there is no assurance whether the written content is accurate or it may display incorrect information. As mentioned during lecture, aside from regular contributors - griefers, trolls, spammers and clueless newcomers can pose a threat to existing articles.

The second factor stated in Purdy’s article is its “changeability” because Wikipedia’s articles are edited over time by different contributors and it is constantly changing. He also stated “the article you cite today may not exist in that form tomorrow whereas print texts are relatively stable, we expect texts we read and cite to be the same when we go back to them later” (p.208). This is especially evident when I reviewed articles on Wikipedia and witnessed the constant edits by other users through time to update missing information from current news.

As a newcomer using Wikipedia, I had a hard time finding reliable sources and had difficulties dealing with copyright infringement. I also struggled with uploading an image from creative commons and I had to utilize the resources from Wiki Education to resolve many issues along the way. By making Wiki Education more accessible, the features guide newcomers to learn and create articles according to Wikipedia’s guidelines thus less damage or incorrect information will be shown on existing or new articles. This allows newcomers to understand why people contribute on Wikipedia and how it is done correctly. This will also ease existing contributor’s burden on stressing about new contributor’s mess on their work. As a result, there will be active participation from users of all levels and Wikipedia will have an increase of contributors. Users will also develop an identity-based commitment as they feel a sense of belonging within the community and they will be more willing to help contribute more articles, and also helping others on their articles.

In order to make Wikipedia as a reliable source, the community should create a set of behavioral norms that will reduce conflict between the community members and also ensure a smooth journey for new members to join and understand how to contribute effectively. Aside from the existing explicit norms mentioned in week three’s lecture like Assume Good Faith, Neutrality, Be Bold and etc., additional norms should be community-based and it needs to consider the suggestions and concerns from existing contributors in order to be effective. Wikipedia should incorporate consequences for users who posted spam or inappropriate content. For instance, negative behavior will be given an initial warning and if they are still persistent, they will be persecuted with a fine and account suspension. With these norms in effect, articles will become more credible once misinformation and spam is eliminated and regulated.

In conclusion, I believe making Wiki Education more accessible will gain interests of readers and newcomers to experiment and contribute when they are fully prepared and knowledgeable on how Wikipedia functions. Wiki Education played a crucial role as a training tool for me to feel comfortable working in my sandbox and following the guided training until I made my article live. It was surprising to hear from my friends that they heard about self-contributing an article on Wikipedia but they were unfamiliar and reluctant to write one due to lack of resources to guide them to contribute adequately. Therefore, raising awareness and promoting Wiki Education features will increase new and current users to contribute efficiently and reduce uninformed mistakes being made on existing articles. Lastly, I would like to see a change in credibility where students and researchers can depend on Wikipedia as a reliable source due to its consistency in quality, and making authorized contributors as authors for citing purposes.

References

Purdy, J. P. (2010). Wikipedia is good for you!? Writing Spaces. Retrieved February 12, 2023, from https://writingspaces.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Wikipedia-is-Good-for-you.pdf

Winnie54 (talk) 04:34, 13 February 2023 (UTC)