PR people who edited Wikipedia get crucified. Counterattack: reduce
trust in Wikipedia.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/04/120417113527.htm
Paper: http://www.prsa.org/Intelligence/PRJournal/
The paper's message appears to be "Wikipedia's rules need to change".
(Also, "Jimmy Wsles is a big meanie head.") The paper doesn't address
the problem that the media and general public get upset and turn PR
editing into a PR problem even when it's within existing rules.
(Aside: I've evidently been skimming too many hard science papers -
that "peer reviewed" paper reads like an undergraduate essay.)
- d.
Dear Wikipedia contributors,
Your valuable opinions are needed regarding users' motivations to
contribute to Wikipedia. This topic is currently investigated by Audrey
Abeyta, an undergraduate student at the University of California, Santa
Barbara. You can read a more detailed description of the project here:
http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Research:Motivations_to_Contribute_to_Wikipe…
Those willing to participate in this study will complete a brief online
questionnaire, which is completely anonymous and will take approximately
ten minutes. The questionnaire can be accessed here:
https://us1.us.qualtrics.com/SE/?SID=SV_8ixU9RkozemzC4s.
The researcher hopes to attain a sample size of at least 100 Wikipedians;
as of now, only 52 have responded. Your contributions to this project's
validity are invaluable!
A final draft of the paper will be made available to the Wikipedia
community.
If you have any questions or concerns about this study, please contact
Audrey Abeyta at audrey.abeyta(a)gmail.com.
Thank you in advance for your participation!
Those of you who have been around for a few years may remember
user:Tlogmer, aka Ben Yates -- co-author with Charles Matthews and I
on "How Wikipedia Works."
I got an email from his mother this morning with the very sad news
that Ben passed away yesterday. I do not know the details. He was in
his 20s and lived in Michigan, USA.
There will be a memorial service in Michigan on Friday; contact me if
you want that information. His userpages are
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Tlogmer
and http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Tlogmer
For several years Ben wrote a blog about Wikipedia that was incisive
and widely read. Older posts can be found here:
http://wikip.blogspot.com/
He also designed the Wikimania logo with the two "w"s; originally
designed for Wikimania 2006, we use it to this day:
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Wikimania_%28spacing%29.png
Ben was a skilled artist and designer and was responsible for all of
the figures in "How Wikipedia Works." He also designed posters and
graphic materials for Wikimania and proposed many other merchandise
designs to promote Wikipedia.
He was funny, smart, and shy; I never had a bad interaction with him.
I worked with him intensively for many months but never got a chance
to meet him in person, but I counted him as a friend long after we
finished the book. He will be missed.
If you have any comments that you would like to be given to his family
or read at the service, please post them on Ben's talk page or send to
me directly. Wikimedia was meaningful to Ben, and it would mean a lot
to let his mom that people cared about her son as a colleague and
friend.
thanks,
-- Phoebe
(FYI)
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Erik Moeller <erik(a)wikimedia.org>
Date: Tue, Apr 17, 2012 at 2:58 PM
Subject: MathJax enabled on mediawiki.org
To: Wikimedia developers <wikitech-l(a)lists.wikimedia.org>
MathJax is now enabled as an experimental math rendering mode on
MediaWiki.org (thanks, Aaron).
To enable it, select it in your preferences under "Appearance".
I've set up a page here to report & track issues:
http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Extension:Math/MathJax_testing
While it's probably too slow to make it the default, it's a nice
alternative rendering mode which we should make available everywhere
if there are no remaining major issues. Thanks to Brion and everyone
else involved in getting it to this point.
Erik
--
Erik Möller
VP of Engineering and Product Development, Wikimedia Foundation
Support Free Knowledge: https://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Donate
--
Erik Möller
VP of Engineering and Product Development, Wikimedia Foundation
Support Free Knowledge: https://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Donate
Dear Wikipedia contributors,
Your valuable opinions are needed regarding users' motivations to contribute to Wikipedia. This topic is currently investigated by Audrey Abeyta, an undergraduate student at the University of California, Santa Barbara. You can read a more detailed description of the project here: http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Research:Motivations_to_Contribute_to_Wikipe…
Those willing to participate in this study will complete a brief online questionnaire, which is completely anonymous and will take approximately ten minutes. The questionnaire can be accessed here: https://us1.us.qualtrics.com/SE/?SID=SV_8ixU9RkozemzC4s.
If you have any questions or concerns about this study, please contact Audrey Abeyta at audrey.abeyta(a)gmail.com.
Thank you in advance for your participation!
Just a quick straw poll:
When was the last time you looked at the Wikipedia Manual of Style for
use in your own writing? And not to tell someone else they were wrong
about something.
Me, I can't remember. I think I *have*, but it would have been years ago.
- d.
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