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Hi all, <br>
<br>
Having asked the original question on this thread I thought I might
chime in with my thoughts to the responses. When I posted it I imagined
I'd get responses from women rather than men so it was interesting that
the initial responses came from men and then a discussion ensued about
the merits/disbenefits of the idea of Wikipedia dominated by women as it
is presently dominated (statistically) by men. <br>
<br>
I was thinking of it more in the context of the content on Wikipedia
given the issues previously raised on this list so it was interesting to
see my idea interpreted in terms of relationships. It had not occurred
to me that in asking people (in my mind women) to imagine what Wikipedia
would look like if the contribution stats were reversed on the variable
of gender that this might be interpreted as some kind of agenda so I
ought to state how I do see the issue of women's participation for the
purposes of my own campaining Women4Wikipedia http://women4wikipedia.net<br>
<br>
It has been insteresting and informative reading about the experiences
of various women with Wikipedia both in the media and on this list.
Given that my prior experience with Wikipedia is adding one article and
reading it for various purposes almost daily, I was not aware that women
in general felt they were treated differently on Wikipedia than men or
that there were cases where certain topics were potentially the subject
of concerted campaigns. <br>
<br>
However in getting more women involved with Wikipedia I have to wonder
whether, for the person who simply adds a page or two or makes a few
edits, whether the image presented in the media is going to represent
their experience with Wikiepdia? It doesn't reflect mine and I'm not
trying to be or get women to become heavily involved in Wikipedia
necessarily but just to 'add their crumb' as the saying goes. I hasten
to add that I do not wish to invalidate the negative experiences some
women have had with Wikipedia. I feel for people who have been in the
position of fighting a battle for what they believe is right and found
Wikipedia to have failed their rights and expections. I understand that
they feel violated and burned out. I do not wish to justify or
invalidate their experience. <br>
<br>
I do wish to say though that this experience might depend on the level
of controversy of the topic one is editing, not to discount this
conflict, but to say that in getting women (or men) involved around the edges of
Wikipedia that this is not necessarily going to be their experience. I
got in, created my page and got out. I never talked to anyone during
this process because there was no need to. I expect that if I were to
continue to edit Wikipedia I'd run the risk of entering into an edit war
sooner or later. So it is good to see how other people have faired and
try to create a supportive environment for women who may encounter such
risks. <br>
<br>
This is one of the things I am trying to create through Women4Wikipedia.
This is not to suggest women are always going to agree but in a sea of
men it is nice to find a female face and also (for me) to gain
confidence through self-reliance rather than relying on the nearest geek
who is often a male. That's what I'm doing here anyway and the way I
see my campaign. To me the idea of open source is not much if relatively
normal people can't come along and play round the edges, if it is all
for the super geeks then it just becomes another silo. I think Wikipedia
is fairly unique in this regard in that it is open to everyone and you
don't have to be a developer or an expert. A lot of open source groups
seem to be for developers whether they brand themselves that way or not.
<br>
<br>
I see no reason not to also want to help male novices with Wikipedia but
given the current issue for Wikipedia is its lack of female
contributors I decided to focus on women given that I am one and
apparently one of the few. I am currently hosting weekly Twitter chats
at http://wthastag.com/Women4wikipedia<span class="f"><cite> </cite></span>starting
9am UTC/GMT Monday or 8pm Australian Time (Sydney). Readings &
transcripts are at http://women4wikipedia.net<br>
<br>
regards<br>
Rosie Williams<br>
http://collectiveaction.com.au<br>
@collectiveact<br><br><br><br> </body>
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