Hi,
Is there any research about the effect of vandalism in wiki content pages on readers, experienced editors, and new and potential editors?
And of abuse in discussion pages and edit summaries on experienced editors and new and potential editors?
Intuitively and anecdotally one could think of the following: 1. Vandalism in content pages (articles) wastes editors' and patrollers' time. This (probably) doesn't require proof (or does it?). But some people say it also causes some experienced editors to burn out and leave. Is there any data about it, beyond intuition?
2. Does vandalism *measurably* affect the perception of the wikis' reliability? (This may be wildly different in different languages and wikis.)
3. Abusive language on discussion pages and edit summaries affects editors, and may cause them to reduce their editing, to stop editing about certain topics, or to leave the wiki entirely. Is this effect measurable? How does it differ for various groups by gender, age, religion, country, professional and educational background, seniority at the wiki, etc.?
Thanks! :)
-- Amir Elisha Aharoni · אָמִיר אֱלִישָׁע אַהֲרוֹנִי http://aharoni.wordpress.com “We're living in pieces, I want to live in peace.” – T. Moore