[Foundation-l] Comments on New Reports from November 2008 Survey Released

[Noein]

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Hello,
I've been reading the survey.

http://wikipediasurvey.org/docs/Wikipedia_NonContributors_15March2010-FINAL.pdf


Suggestions:

a) In my opinion, one of the things that make the learning curb steep to
start editing is the fact that most of the essential concepts of
Wikipedia are discussed through accronyms: ie, NPOV.

If a bot could automatically add an explicitation, visible when hovering
the mouse on the acronym, then the discussions pages would be self
contained.

b) Currently, the edition mode shows a different page with a different
syntax than the article page which immediately rebukes the would-be
editor. A WYSIWYG edition mode coupled with an AJAX technology would
leave the editor in familiar grounds.

c) A synthesis and a link to the main rules for writing an article
should be present when in edition mode. Currently, if you want to know
how to respect the conventions, you have to search for them by yourself.

d) The notices that state one or other way that an article doesn't meet
the wikipedia standard (ie, "this article needs clean up") assume that
the reader knows what the standard is. A link to an example of what is
expected from the editor would clarify things: ie, an example of a
"before clean up article/ after clean up article".


e) I think there are two main psychological steps required for editing
and sharing knowledge.
 I - You notice that something is wrong or incomplete. That is, you know
something that is not in the article.
 II - You find a way to pour your knowledge. You must be confident and
comfortable with this way.

Currently, step II can be achieved through two options: you edit the
article or you start a discussion. This requires time, confidence,
experience and will. Sometimes you just want to point out an obscure
passage or an external link, without editing the article or leaving
comments.
I think those procedures should be assisted so that the editor can
contribute with a single click or a link, leaving the rest of the task
to others.

f) I think that some potential editors are afraid of their first
contribution. Once they're engaged and lost their a priori and fears,
they should be more proactive. So I think small and easy participations
should be made available to them. For example, right-clicking a word and
correcting it's spelling with an integrated dictionary instead of going
through the editing interface could be a determining step.

g) Youth. There is no data on youth in the survey. I think they have
specific patterns of thoughts and behaviours. Wikipedia should be
adapted to them too. They're the future.

Cheers





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