[Wikimediaindia-l] What's in it for me?
Deepon Saha
hideeponhere at gmail.com
Mon Dec 19 06:45:51 UTC 2011
Nice...:)
Deepon
On Sun, Dec 18, 2011 at 10:25 PM, Nitika <ntandon at wikimedia.org> wrote:
> Hi Srikanth & everyone else,
>
> This is a really good question and one that I've been thinking about and
> working on as we look at outreach in general.
>
> From my discussions with various editors and my observing and
> participating in outreach sessions, I think the biggest challenge when we
> do outreach is "why to contribute". Of course, "how to edit" is essential
> - but unless someone believes there is a strong enough reason to
> participate, it's unlikely they're going to get involved or stay involved
> after a couple of exploratory edits. From my conversations and readings,
> the motivators of existing editors are any or a combination (or variants)
> of "promoting free knowledge" or "sharing knowledge in general" or
> "improving education" or "passion for their languages" or "interest in a
> particular subject (e.g. astronomy or railways or butterflies.) However,
> my opinion is that it is relatively complex to convey these in an initial
> outreach session. It's best to motivate and train and support potential
> newbies to join the movement and community - and allow them to discover for
> themselves what is the inspiration for them (especially because it is
> likely to be unique to that individual.)
>
> Personally, i think there are a number of really compelling answers to the
> "What's in it for me?" question - and I do want to share my take on it.
> I'm dividing my answer into students and faculty/institutions. (The tone
> I'm using is what can be used when actually answering the question.) These
> answers are a little clinical and conceptual but I've found they work - and
> I believe they will provide an adequate incentive to try and learn a little
> bit more about editing and to hopefully become regular editors.
>
> * Academia - Students*
>
>
> 1. It improves your *writing skills*. Writing skills are essential
> when you move ahead in life either to do further studies or to work. Our
> education system (unfortunately) doesn't adequately teach writing skills
> and we all struggle when we have to write a formal report or research
> paper. When you move into the working world, you'll find that you can be
> as good as you are at your work but unless you are able to write those
> written reports properly, you'll always find it hard to succeed.
> 2. It will help your *critical thinking*. Concepts like Neutral Point
> of View (which you will sometimes see in Wikipedia being referred to as
> NPOV) help you see all sides of a story. In your future careers, you need
> to consider the pros and cons of anything - because only that way will you
> be a better professional. If you're into software, look at the article on
> waterfall development model and how it looks at pros and cons. If you're
> in economics, look at the article on the Euro bailout and see how it looks
> at all the multiple complex issues involved. Very little in life is purely
> good or totally evil; we need to be neutral and consider all sides. You
> will find this incredibly useful in both your personal and professional
> lives. This thinking will help you decide who to vote for in elections or
> which version of Lok Pal you support or which IPL team to follow! This
> thinking will help you understand your subjects even better.
> 3. It'll strengthen your *research skills.* Editing a wikipedia
> article requires you to do a lot of referencing (or what wikipedia
> sometimes calls "citations".) This means you need to look beyond just the
> wikipedia article and research online references and also go into that
> forgotten room called the library and look up books or journal. This is a
> skill you cannot live without if you are writing a thesis or working on a
> research project.
> 4. It teaches you how to *collaborate*! Editing wikipedia is
> magical. You add some content and someone from some other part of the
> class or school or town or country or somewhere else in the world adds a
> little bit more and makes your contribution that much better. The days of
> sitting alone under a tree and having an apple fall on your head and
> discovering gravity are over. In today's world, we will need to
> collaborate to achieve anything. If you're into biotechnology, you might
> be based in Hyderabad but the team you are part of might have someone in
> Scotland or Brazil- from a different culture and with a different accent -
> but you need to work together. Wikipedia helps you learn how to
> collaborate!
> 5. It gives you a *global audience of - literally, thousands! * If you
> submit a class report, the maximum audience is 2; 1 being you and 1 being
> your teacher. After your paper is marked, it will normally be thrown
> away. If you edit a wikipedia article, it is there *forever* and the
> audience can be any number from the 500 million who read wikipedia every
> month! You can show your article to you mother and grandfather and
> friends! If you upload pictures to Wikimedia Commons, you will have an
> audience so much bigger than the 500 friends on Facebook who will see it.
> So many more can see your talents and appreciate your work!
> 6. It'll boost your chances in admissions or scholarships or *
> placements*. Imagine if you are a mechanical engineer and you are one
> of 100 students in your batch applying for jobs with the best engineering
> companies who come to campus. Everyone is likely to submit a resume saying
> they are the greatest engineer ever born - but it's difficult for any one
> to stand out and shine. If you were to put a line in your resume that you
> have edited 5 articles on heating and cooling systems, there is a very high
> probability that this would jump out at the recruitment team of the
> companies and the will actually read your article (if they haven't already.)
> 7. It can be *so much fun*! You can make new friends - from all over
> the world.. You can write about subjects that you are interested in
> (whether it is movies or your hometown or sarees or mythology or cricket
> or whatever!) It think it is really important that we drive this message as
> passionately as we can because this is something that can resonate so loud
> and for so long!
>
>
> * Academia - Faculty & Education Institutions*
>
>
> 1. Students with all the above result in much more motivated classes.
> One thing that teachers constantly say is that they one thing they want is
> *engaged students.* I've had teachers tell me that if they are in a
> class and they see their students involved and trying to learn and active,
> it is the best thing that can happen to them - and the rest of their day
> goes well!
> 2. It improves your individual and college's *academic reputation*.
> In the Indian context where there is relatively lower emphasis on academic
> research papers by faculty members, supporting your students on Wikipedia
> articles helps you (rightfully) claim that you contributed to these
> articles. That increases your academic standing and helps attract better
> students and faculty and partnerships and recruiting companies.
> 3. It supports the advancement of *education* - for students in your
> class and colleges and around the world. You have devoted your lives to
> education and this is a great way of promoting it.
>
>
> I wanted to share my perspectives because I really believe that the "why"
> needs to be addressed.
>
> Thanks for starting a great message thread, Srikanth.
>
> Nitika
>
> On 18-Dec-2011, at 1:37 AM, Srikanth Ramakrishnan wrote:
>
> Subha, most of those bullies are editors with zero constructive edits
> or IP based vandals. Sadly.
> Erik, yes, I consider Giving to Wiki as giving back to Society. Thanks
> for the links. Time to read during my month long Wiki break.
> Ravi, Bala told me that physical outreach programs had very poor
> success rates. I concur with him.
> Prad, I agree. That's how Manish and I became friends. But still
> doesn't explain how to get new guys.
>
> --
> Regards,
> Srikanth Ramakrishnan.
> Wikipedia Coimbatore Meetup on December 10th.
> http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Meetup/Coimbatore
>
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