Emma Sandell
Wikipedia Essay
Wikipedia is a strong site and online community that relies on the participation of both experienced and casual editors. Anyone has the ability to make contributions to this community and help spread information about a variety of topics. Wikipedia is a very strong platform; however, they require further participation in terms of editing and adding to their articles. There are many components that Wikipedia could change and strategies they could implement in order to strengthen their online influence. Focusing on ways to motivate the general population, obtaining newcomers that are understanding of Wikipedia’s norms, and turning these motivated newcomers into committed members will all help Wikipedia flourish. It is very important that Wikipedia begins to implement these new strategies in order to create an online community that will continue to provide information to the world.
Online communities are only strong if they have people who are motivated to contribute to their platform. Wikipedia commonly attracts a large number of readers, however, not many of these readers choose to help edit the site. Many of the articles throughout Wikipedia are only stubs because this community fails to attract motivated individuals. It is important that the Wikimedia Foundation begins to implement ways to incentivize participation. This can be accomplished through persuasive techniques and appealing to intrinsic motivations. Using persuasive techniques such as asking more effectively and making tasks easily accessible would encourage people to contribute to this community. Many individuals do not understand that anyone can be an editor for Wikipedia. Prior to this class, I believed that only professional editors were able to make contributions to the page. If Wikipedia begins to broadcast that anyone has the ability to edit and make a list of the contributions for people to work on, they will have more motivated individuals. People would also be easily persuaded to contribute if the site appeals their intrinsic motivations. The Wikimedia Foundation should find ways to appeal to individual’s intrinsic motivations by making contributing more fun or make editors feel as if they were bettering their community.
After finding and shaping these motivated individuals, Wikipedia must put time and effort into making sure that they are a benefit to their community rather than a danger. Newcomers to any online community can have many benefits such as the addition of new perspectives and overall participation to the site. However, if these individuals are not conscious of the norms and regulations of the community, they could have many drawbacks. The community could become ineffective overall and eventually fail if these individuals are not socialized to understand the responsibilities of this environment. Wikipedia must begin to implement stronger strategies to enforce their rules in order to avoid threats to their success. Wikipedia has a current set of norms; however, it is important to make their rules clearer in order for newcomers to quickly understand them. Wikipedia currently experiences a multitude of threats such as spammers, trollers, and clueless individuals. Further technical approaches should be instilled through this site in order to immediately flag any inappropriate actions by these individuals. Another way that they could monitor these negative behaviors is by relying on the support of the editors themselves. The Wikimedia Foundation should constantly encourage their community members to help monitor these negative actions in order to help create a positive environment.
Once these motivated individuals are understanding of the norms and are actively contributing to Wikipedia, it is necessary that they continuously return. Wikipedia must create a community filled with committed individuals who want to keep contributing to the site. Commitment towards Wikipedia could come through many different types. Encouraging an emotional commitment to the community would be the best way for Wikipedia to see a constant return of individuals. If editors feel an identity-based or bonds-based commitment to a community, then they are more likely to feel connected to a platform. If Wikipedia encourages talk pages so people can communicate, they are more likely to develop a bond-based commitment because they would feel closer to the members of the community. Wikipedia should also continue to highlight individuals that make a lot of contributions in order to encourage an identity-based commitment to the site. This would make these individuals feel that Wikipedia is their personal community and want to continue to contribute. Wikipedia will only grow stronger if they have individuals who are truly committed to the community.
Wikipedia is already a very powerful site; however, the implementation of these recommendations is essential to their future success. These are not just random pieces of advice, but theories that have helped grow other online communities. I have learned a lot about a variety of different communities including Wikipedia and have noticed how these changes have allowed for other platforms to become stronger. I want to give Wikipedia these main points as advice because these changes would have made my time while editing in Wikipedia a better experience. While working as a newcomer in Wikipedia, I occasionally had a hard time navigating the site and did not understand a lot of the norms. I also realized majority of my motivation to contribute to the site was due to this class and I probably would not have helped had it not have been an assignment. Further, I do not know if I can say that I am committed enough to this community to return after this course. I believe that believe that if Wikipedia implements my advice, they would strengthen my motivation to contribute, my knowledge about the norms, and increase the commitment level I have to this platform. I believe that the general population will also increase their time contributing to Wikipedia if these recommendations are followed. All of these strategies will strengthen Wikipedia’s online community internally and allow for it to continue to expand externally.
 | This user is a student editor in University_of_Washington/Online_Communities_(Winter_2022). |