[WikiEN-l] Could we use a chore wheel?

[Steve Bennett]

On 10/16/07, Charlotte Webb <charlottethewebb at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> No, I really believe that people prefer to help by doing things they
> enjoy and which match their interests and skills. I also believe that
> most people are better able to select appropriate work for themselves
> (and subsequently perform it) than to select work for others (and/or
> perform work selected for them by others). I don't believe I'm alone
> in saying I would react with disinterest (or even umbrage) to
> anybody's "you do this" list, whether it's hand-delivered or not.[1]
> "Hobbyist" is, after all, a more comforting identity than
> "uncompensated laborer".


Let's try a concrete example: you're a WWII aviation enthusiast. You sign up
for a chore wheel in that field, accepting tasks of proofreading,
categorising and adding references.

On a certain day, you get a list of tasks to do, that look like:
- Please proofread [[Heinkel He 112]]
- Please check if [[Lavochkin La-5]] needs more references
- Please check whether [[Messerschmitt Bf
109]] is in all the right categories.

Are you really going to react badly to this? You love WWII planes, and
here's someone directing you to spend more time reading about them!


Maybe you're doing something that you enjoy, so you have fun while
> you're doing it. Maybe it gratifies your ego to behold the finished
> product (be it a featured article, or a decent stub, or a compelling
> edit count, or victory in a revert war, or Arbcom concluding that
> you've done nothing wrong). Maybe you get recognized/quoted in a news
> article about Wikipedia. Maybe you feel less lonely when random people
> notice your edits, or expand a stub you created (the more obscure[2]
> the topic is, the greater the reward!) Or maybe just the fulfillment
> of whatever goals you have set for yourself, or the feeling that other
> Wikipedians consider you a likable or trustworthy person (particularly
> if "real-lifers" generally do not).


Providing a bit of opt-in direction to people is not going to change that.

Or for some, the escapism is reward enough. Burst that bubble and
> other pastimes could begin to appear more attractive than this one
> (and obviously no less lucrative).
>
> So let's be careful not to burst the bubble.

Steve