Hello, Thanks for the answers so far. As Pine asked what my interest is: As a Designer and Researcher I co-create features that might have unintended consequences in the long run. Thus I find it important to look at larger patterns.
As for the question why I looked at the edit count: From my own experiences and observations and based on Dariusz’ Ethnography [1] it seems that how many edits someone has is relevant for many editors and that having many edits is seen as good. Also many mass edits are done with “bespoke code” [2] which might have interesting (positive and negative) consequences for editors, since it is neither a matter of user interface nor of immediate personal behaviour (which seem to be frequently discussed as problematic)
As for the question if the edit count distribution is a "good way" to look at how power is distributed in communities: It is but one way to look at it, but given the status that [1] assigns to the edit count and the influence that bespoke code [2] has on it, I think it is worth a look among many other interesting things.
That power (or having many edits) does not equal having a great time (as both Kerry and Pine remarked) and that power is not always explicit (as in Editor-Administrator) is known to me and very relevant (I find this has been well discussed by Jo Freeman [3], too)
My question led to two longer answers and Pine pointed out that "we may have given you a lot more than you had in mind when you asked your question" I am interested if there are reasons why. I am very happy about getting detailed answers but sometimes such answers also hint to concerns of which I am not aware – like the mail which got a bit more detailed due to the impression that looking at edit count distributions and its possible relations to community health might be seen as concerning.
Kind Regards, Jan
PS.: I might be slow in responding.
[1] Jemielniak, Dariusz. 2015. *Common Knowledge?: An Ethnography of Wikipedia*. Reprint. Stanford, Calif: STANFORD UNIV PR, p7, p41: "For a significant portion of the Wikipedia community the number of edits is an important measure of value, often more important than whether a user is an admin. Edit count, even more than participation in community discussion, is perceived as legitimization…" [2] Geiger, R. Stuart. 2014. „Bots, bespoke, code and the materiality of software platforms“. *Information, Communication & Society* 17 (3): 342–56. [3] https://www.jofreeman.com/joreen/tyranny.htm
Am Do., 23. Jan. 2020 um 05:23 Uhr schrieb Pine W wiki.pine@gmail.com:
Hi Jan,
I think that we may have given you a lot more than you had in mind when you asked your question. I'm aware that you were thinking of "power law" in a way that can be very different than "power dynamics", but I have the latter more on my mind, partially because of recent discussions on Wikimedia-l related to strategy.
I remain interested in knowing what the goal of your research is.
I'll be busy with non-Wikimedia activities for the next few days, but I'll try to get back to the Wikiverse by this Saturday. If you don't hear back from me after about two weeks then please feel free to email me off list if you'd like me to follow up. In the meantime, Kerry and other capable people may be able to help with any further questions regarding your research interests.
Best wishes,
Pine ( https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Pine ) _______________________________________________ Wiki-research-l mailing list Wiki-research-l@lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wiki-research-l