[Foundation-l] 10 Years of Wikipedia: What's That Mean to You?

[Virgilio A. P. Machado]

What has been written about 10 years of Wikipedia 
brought to my mind thoughts of victory disease 
(1), groupthink (2), hubris (3), narcissism (4), 
communal reinforcement (5), consensus reality 
(6), confirmation bias (7) or, more 
appropriately, Wikiality (8) as well as nemesis 
(9), Watergate (10), and WikiLeaks (11), not necessarily in this order.

Happy Birthday. Enjoy the celebrations of 10 years of Wikipedia.

Sincerely,

Virgilio A. P. Machado


(1) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victory_disease
(2) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Groupthink
(3) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hubris
(4) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Narcissism
(5) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Communal_reinforcement
(6) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Consensus_reality
(7) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Confirmation_bias
(8) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia_in_culture#Wikiality
(9) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nemesis_%28mythology%29
(10) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Watergate_scandal
(11) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WikiLeaks


At 06:49 14-12-2010, you wrote:
>Hi, everyone.
>
>I'm working with Steven Walling and the WikiX team to help get ready
>for the coming celebrations. As you know, Wikipedia’s 10-year birthday
>is coming up really soon! We’ve got scores of events planned—at least
>two on every continent so far[1]—and we’re hoping for more. Now, we
>just need to make sure the rest of the world knows about this amazing
>milestone, too.
>
>Most people outside of the community don’t fully realize we’re a
>mission-driven, non-profit movement run by real, everyday people.
>Often, Wikipedia is thought to be a static product or service, not a
>living, breathing community of people, from all walks of life, who
>care about providing a free public service to the world.  We want the
>rest of the world to know and understand us as a people-driven
>movement, appreciate what we’re doing and --most importantly-- join
>us.  To help, we're asking volunteers [2]  passionate about Wikipedia
>to take a few minutes to write a bit about what it means to be a
>Wikipedian.  Telling your own story about your personal connection to
>Wikipedia is about being proud of the time you’ve spent working on an
>international pubic resource and vital necessity to over 400 million
>people all over the world. It’s about thanking the thousands of people
>who work alongside you to keep this amazing project going.
>
>In addition, we're compiling information about Wikipedia in the form
>of a historical timeline [3] , curating interesting data in the form
>of top 10 lists [4][5] and searching for long-time Wikipedians who
>might also be celebrating their 10th birthday as editors [6].  If you
>have anything to add [7], please share!
>
>As always, if you have any questions or suggestions, let us know.
>
>Cheers,
>
>Moka Pantages
>Wikimedia Foundation
>Communications
>
>
>[1] http://ten.wikipedia.org/wiki/Community_Communications_Kit
>[2] http://ten.wikipedia.org/wiki/Our_Stories
>[3] http://ten.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia_timeline
>[4] http://ten.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia_by_the_numbers
>[5] http://ten.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia's_Top_Ten
>[6] 
>http://ten.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedians_celebrating_their_tenth_WikiBirthday
>[7] 
>http://ten.wikipedia.org/wiki/Share#Wikipedians_celebrating_their_tenth_WikiBirthday
>
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>foundation-l at lists.wikimedia.org
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Prof. Virgilio A. P. Machado            vam at fct.unl.pt
Engenharia 
Industrial 
http://web.archive.org/web/20070824105539/www.ipei.pt/GDEI/
DEMI/FCT/UNL                    Fax:   351-21-294-8546 or 21-294-8531
Universidade de Portugal                or 351-21-295-4461
2829-516 Caparica                       Tel.:  351-21-294-8542 or 21-294-8567
PORTUGAL                                or 351-21-294-8300 or 21 294-8500
                                         Ext.112-32
96-577-3726
Faculdade de Ciencias e Tecnologia/UNL (FCT/UNL)

(Dr. Machado is Associate Professor of Industrial Engineering at the
School of Sciences and Engineering/UNL of the University of Portugal)