On Tue, Mar 29, 2011 at 2:26 AM, MZMcBride z@mzmcbride.com wrote:
Ryan Kaldari wrote:
On 3/28/11 5:20 PM, MZMcBride wrote:
There's a theory that doing something like editing a free online encyclopedia is a niche activity, with a finite amount of people who
will
ever be willing to participate. If we accept this theory, it makes the
very
strong focus on increased participation look rather silly.
So we should just be satisfied with our Pokemon articles and leave it at that?
I for one would like to one day see a Wikipedia that isn't obviously written by people like us, i.e. white male American geeks. Maybe it would include better articles on children's literature, cooking, hip-hop, knitting, sharia law, wine, and African dance. Maybe it would have more featured articles on books than video games. Maybe it's article on sexism would be about more than just the Men's Rights Movement. Maybe it would include statistics from places like Brazil and Mozambique instead of just the United States and Texas.
Now that I think about it, I believe it would actually be a pretty awesome website. Too bad we'll never let that happen.
I wonder, has any other part of the Internet followed this seemingly mythical trend that the Wikimedia Foundation is putting forward, where increased participation magically leads to better content?
When I look around to other parts of the Internet with high levels of participation and very low barriers to entry, I don't hear much signal in the noise. For examples, look at the content of YouTube comments, Facebook Wall posts and comments, tweets, etc. Increased participation might build a bigger "movement," but a niche activity is still a niche activity, no matter how many strategic plans, consultants, and buzzwords are thrown at it.
MZMcBride
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I absolutely agree with MZMcBride.
Wikimedia content is build by millions of edits, uploads, and other contributions by millions of people around the world. To become a truly established user, however, is entirely different. It takes a certain personality to participate an remain a long-term contributor. There is no amount of software upgrades/extensions/bugs/gadgets or policies/discussions/projects/surveys/mailing lists that will change that. Our content will always be built upon those with the goal in mind, always insurmountable, of any Wikimedia project.