Wikipedia has a number of methods of making the standards of writing and editing known to its authors. Wikipedia.org contains an extensive section delineating the norms that should be followed to create a comprehensive and accurate online resource. Wikipedia uses its encyclopedic character to its advantage, and lists countless articles on its bylaws. Wallace would compare these articles to a “no-smoking” sign in a restaurant. If the rule is broken, one suffers the consequences.
Over time, Wikipedia has woven a cohesive group of users who correct and regulate its content for accuracy. The elements of a cohesive group are: initiation, massive time commitment, icebreakers and group symbols. Each user who registers (initiation) a name on Wikipedia has the power to edit and create articles. But with increased experience and time commitment, comes credibility, and a rewarding promotion. Eventually one’s role may become administrator, which gives the user the power to delete articles and ban vandal IP addresses. Cognitive dissonance, a direct relationship between beliefs and actions, comes into play here. Those who write articles on Wikipedia invest an incredible amount of time on the site, and their articles become part of their precious personal repertoire. This is a vicious cycle in that the more time a person spends creating and editing Wikipedia, the more important it becomes to them. The ice-breakers can be classified as the common ground of responsibility which these administrators share. They operate proudly as a truth taskforce. The group of individuals that is devoted to enforcing the norm has been dubbed the CounterVandlism Unit. The CVU is complete with a group symbol and a special name as well. To quote the article on the CVU, “’Unit’ is simply a little snappier than ‘WikiProject’”.
See the IP block list. Hit refresh after waiting a minute and watch a number of new entries appear. The “conforming” Wikipedia users have “raised their eyebrows” at the vandals on the IP block list. They are deprived of their right to edit articles, a right that everyone else inherently has. This action is meant to deter repeat-vandalism and enforce the norms of article writing.
Starting off, Wikipedia had a shaky foundation, since the group identity and number of administrators was limited. Now the turnaround time for correction of inaccurate articles is incredibly fast. As a joke, my friend once made a Wikipedia entry for his girlfriend of their relationship. The page did not even survive long enough for him to show his girlfriend. However, my friend’s post did stay online for a certain period of time, very slightly tainting the reputation of Wikipedia. In his book “The Long Tail,” Chris Anderson states that “the mean repair time for damage in high–profile Wikipedia entries such as “Islam” is less than four minutes.” Anderson contrasts Wikipedia and Britannica. He states that Wikipedia has 10 times more entries, creating a comprehensive and accurate whole, but no single article should be taken without a grain of salt. Chances are that you will find an accurate article on Wikipedia, whereas in Britannica you run the risk of not even finding what you are looking for. Wikipedia operates on a principle that he calls “probabilistic statistics,” the idea that the service is never 100% flawless, but is programmed to evolve in accuracy and breadth over time. He cites Kevin Kelly’s examples of probabilistic statistics, where order arises from what appears to be chaos. His examples include democracy and bird-flocking, two phenomena which we can see elements of a cohesive group and the concept that many individuals can create an expandable larger entity and for the greater good.
https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=5400576841210402935&postID=8050569150949175298
https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=5400576841210402935&postID=794471671520627739
Wikipedia has a number of methods of making the standards of writing and editing known to its authors. Wikipedia.org contains an extensive section delineating the norms that should be followed to create a comprehensive and accurate online resource. Wikipedia uses its encyclopedic character to its advantage, and lists countless articles on its bylaws. Wallace would compare these articles to a “no-smoking” sign in a restaurant. If the rule is broken, one suffers the consequences.
2 comments:
Alon, I really enjoyed your post. Wikipedia has become a great example of what a community of people can accomplish on the internet when their knowledge is pooled. However, this resource would be useless if there was no way to almost guarantee that the information on it is correct. By creating the CVU, a Leviathan has been created making it almost pointless to even try to post incorrect information on purpose. With the site being moderated by the creators and by the community it is a reliable source of information. And since most of the articles in Wikipedia are correct people are willing to accept a few questionable sources for the convenience of a large database. As time goes on, people will continue to realize what a resource Wikipedia is and the Leviathon will continue to grow allowing the site to continue to grow.
Alon, great choice of topic! Wikipedia is a perfect example of an online space with a very well recognized leviathan. Your analysis of the site as a cohesive group is great and the IP block list is practically a list of ‘arched brows’. I think that beyond the ‘sign on the door’ that you mentioned, (the articles in its bylaws which explain the etiquette of authoring information on the site), the administrators constructed another sign when they stopped allowing anonymous editing of the site. This means that someone must create an account to create or edit an article and when they create their account they are surely faced with a list of rules that they must agree to. Even if a user chooses to agree without reading the rules, the simple fact that there is a sign-up process is a sign in itself because it tells the user that they are not anonymous and can be held accountable for something. Any user would be able to understand what the account represents.
Post a Comment