I'm going to be brutally honest here, because I keep seeing the same surveys, opinions and theories over and over again...
I agree that the "I don't have enough free time," argument is tiring.
I think a lot of it boils down to mark-up being too high maintainence, attention (I admit, I get annoyed still sometimes when I am not credited for a job well done in the Wikiworld), motivation, and the lame social environment that sometimes goes with it.
I also think Wikipedia is rather "geeky" compared to the sexiness of blogging.
I'd love to see a survey where "Lack of free time" was not even on the options list.
I am single, I don't have kids, I am 30, getting my masters and I stopped editing in 2004 after assholes who had no interest in helping me through the Wikiworld drove me nuts. I started editing in 2006 due to a car crash that made me bedridden - it was a better option than World of Warcraft..
2 years ago Wikipedia was barely on my radar. Then some museum colleagues asked me to participate in a public art project - I was one of three women (and 1 man). Now, two years later people are paying my way to speak at their institutions about GLAMWIKI and my current residency is completely spearheaded by women, 3 who are editing. (Might sound braggy but I'm making a point)
I think we need to start thinking of "potential female editors" as not only housewives, or moms. Which seems to be constantly a theme. If the housewife mother isnt editing...who could be?
The more outreach that continues (i.e. Public policy) to get funded, or is practically grassroots (GLAM) can help bring more women who will MAKE time to contribute. Everyday I get an email (no joke) during my residency at the Smithsonian from someone, usually a woman, interested in WP.
The past year I have devoted my life to WP, advocacy and examining it in my thesis - And the majority of people I preach the gospel to are women.
Pardon my angst, bitchiness and such, but, there is a lot more too this...and I'm sorry I haven had time to contribute to this project like I had hoped - my Non-gender oriented WP work has taken priority..
Sarah
Sent via iPhone - I apologize in advance for my shortness or errors! :)
On Jul 7, 2011, at 6:47 PM, Ryan Kaldari rkaldari@wikimedia.org wrote:
If women don't edit Wikipedia because they don't have free time, why are there more women bloggers than men? Keeping a blog requires a lot more time and dedication than editing Wikipedia. Currently, however, 51% of blog posts are by women.[1] Women also spend more time using email and online chat than men.[2] There must be other factors at work besides a lack of free time.
- http://www.sysomos.com/reports/bloggers/
- http://www.encognitive.com/files/Shyness%20and%20Locus%20of%20Control%20as%2...
Ryan Kaldari
On 7/3/11 6:45 PM, Gillian White wrote:
Yes Fred, I agree that working on WP has the capacity to take your mind off the daily concerns and stresses - it's interesting, educational and productive and its incrementalism is perfect for those with caregiving responsibilities. The difficulty is getting started and also learning to use the technology. You need a serious amount of concentration and focus to get to some level of competence, which like most worthwhile endeavours, is possibly, if frustratingly, a good thing. As a relatively newbie female, who has years of experience in caregiving, I'd say becoming a Wikipedian is like learning to play the piano or speak French (both of which I have tried to do). Before you get to the rewarding part, you need to learn the skills. Then you can play and communicate.
Gillian
On 4 July 2011 08:49, Fred Bauder fredbaud@fairpoint.net wrote:
Women (and people of color) are likely to have fewer financial resources than men (i.e. innovative time on their hands at the keyboard). For single parents, it is worse yet (females who do not have a partner provisioning them); they just don’t have the time. Moreover, who wants to fight online intellectual/deletion battles and noob learning curves when there is: laundry to do, cooking and dishes, kids to take somewhere, diapers, homework, animals, gardens, transportation, and paying basic bills? Daycare support in the U.S. has evaporated and single-parent households have increased.
I've done lots of caregiving, for parents and brother in the last 20 years, and despite all the chores it does result in lots of free time at home. Which I was motivated to use learning computing, getting on the internet, etc. The alternative is often reading or watching TV with the people you're taking care of.
Much of the time I was also working. This was an attractive activity for me, getting information, playing games, participating in mailing lists, working on Wikipedia. My nearest neighbor was half a mile a way and I didn't like them. I was isolated by both geography and caregiving. I have no idea why more women don't also find it interesting.
Fred
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