User:Willraptorsfan/reflection

Wiki Reflection

It is safe to say I had my struggles with Wikipedia. I think in general what propelled me to take this class initially was my mystery towards online communities. I never considered myself a real active member of any online communities in my adult life. I say adult life because growing up I was constantly on Club Penguin. Of course I have had my experiences with online communities like Reddit and Facebook, but I never grew a warm relationship with a particular website or community. The same inexperience that drew me to the class may have also been my biggest struggle. I never took a fascination to Wikipedia. It's tough to say that, because my Professor has continually showed us his passion and excitement for Wikipedia. I did not have the same passion for Wikipedia, although I did develop a strong respect for it. As much difficulty as I had, it's impossible not to commend Wikipedia for the success it's had since its creation. However, I do think where my biggest struggle came to light was through the integration process. What makes Wikipedia so successful is its sheer volume, however a community as large as Wikipedia may have lead to my isolation and struggle to feel like a true Wikipedian member.

Wiki Struggles

Every online community depends on successful interactions between users, which itself depends on appropriate structures and careful facilitation. Looking at Wikipedia almost every single article has multiple contributors and active talk pages. This is an example of how users are able to interact and share ideas for the betterment of the community. While this is undoubtedly a good thing, I think this also one of the biggest flaws of Wikipedia. Contributing to Wikipedia as a newcomer can be intimidating. So many of the users I did see on Wikipedia had more experience than me and had contributed to a number of different articles. In my three months on Wikipedia, I had no other users interact with me or seek me out in any way. Of course, I had not made any attempts to initiate any interaction with other users, but I was surprised to see my user page go completely unnoticed. As a large, well-established online community, I was expecting some sort of initiation or introduction into the community. However, Wikipedia's massive volume could be the same reason I did not receive the introduction I was expecting. Would a more intimate community have made more of an effort to introduce me? That's the thing with such large online communities, it seems there's a survival of the fittest mentality and therefore a newcomer like myself doesn't necessarily need any attention. I also think a lot of Wikipedia users are self-motivated to learn and share and uphold the knowledge base, so someone like me, who is trying to find their footing may not be able to compete with other users.

Kraut et al break down the newcomer lifecycle into five key phases, with phase one being the recruitment phase. They write, "Communities need to advertise to recruit members and to ensure a supply of newcomers for replenishment and growth". Based of my experience with Wikipedia, this phase never existed. I was not exposed to any advertising or any sense of recruitment to join Wikipedia (aside from it being required for class). Had I been on my own time, I would have never considered joining Wikipedia, and truthfully had no real knowledge of how to join Wikipedia. The fourth phase of socialization jumps out to me as well, because I never really experienced this either. As I mention above, at no point did I truly transition form an outsider to a full-fledged Wikipedian. Without the help of this class, I would have felt truly isolated. My only explanation for this is that Wikipedia really doesn't care if I join or not. I think Wikipedia is so large and already has so many committed users that my presence is not worth the hassle of having other user's walk me through the newcomer lifecycle. I suppose I was lacking the compassion or the empathy of what a smaller online community could have offered me. Being a small fish in a big sea is hard.

To go beyond just reflecting, I want to suggest ways in which my isolation could have been dealt with. I am not sure how feasible this is, but a recruitment team would go a long way. I think there needs to be a handful of Wikipedians who dedicate themselves to going to new user's talk pages and both introducing themselves and offering guidance. A simple introduction from another Wikipedia user would have went a long way for me, and I am sure would have the same effect on many other WikiInfants. Form here, the new user can form a connection with the recruiting user and hopefully become more involved with Wikipedia. Similar as to when you get a new job, someone is usually there to walk you through your tasks and help you socialize into your new position. This is the person you can ask the dumb questions to and help you settle in. There is a strong comfort knowing there's someone looking out for you.

Wiki Success

As much as I may be bashing on Wikipedia, I have had my success as well. My real Wikipedia experience came through my decision to update the 2020 New York Yankees Season. I knew right away I wanted to choose a sports related topic, and through some light digging I noticed the 2020 New York Yankees was very empty in terms of content. When I chose the topic, the season was still ongoing, but I was definitely a bit confused as to why this page was lacking so much information. A team as popular as the Yankees I assumed would have attention from a number of users.

Nonetheless, I took upon myself to reinvigorate the page and fill in the much-needed, missing information. Going game by game and filling out scores and stats was a bit grueling, and ultimately took me a lot longer than it should have. With this particular project, I struggled with my time management and seemed to fall behind in the writing process. This atop a scary personal issue resulted in my contribution being published later than intended. However, seeing my work published on Wikipedia was a very rewarding experience. To me that is one of the coolest things about Wikipedia. I made my imprint on the world and while in the grand scheme of things, this was a microscopic contribution, it gave me a sense of worth. Publishing my writing gave me the adrenaline rush that I am sure so many other Wikipedians have come to desire. To me, it's the moments like this where user's commitment to Wikipedia really begin to form and really begin to strengthen.

I would also like to point out that through my writing I noticed my motivation changed. Initially like I do with most assignments I viewed my Wikipedia contribution as a burden. As mentioned prior, I struggled to get adjusted to Wikipedia and so writing my final assignment seemed like it would be tough for me to overcome. However, as I began writing, I noticed I was actually beginning to enjoy the assignment. It became less of a task and more of just me getting pleasure out of my writing. As I was writing my motivation shifted and I became intrinsically motivated. When you are writing about a topic you enjoy it becomes blissful and way less of a responsibility. With Wikipedia, there is an endless number of possibilities to write about it. I think at some point everyone is able to find their niche and write articles that they truly enjoy. I think so many people on Wikipedia posses the same intrinsic motivation I felt, and that's a big part of how the community can operate so successfully.

Wiki Outlook

Overall, I do not mean to come off as unappreciative or feel like I am hating on Wikipedia too much. As I said, I have a lot of respect for what Wikipedia is. I had my highs and my lows on Wikipedia, and to me that is what a successful journey is all about. Going forward, I would like to continue to monitor my contribution on the 2020 New York Yankees Season. I would love to get some more insight on my contribution and hopefully develop relationships with other Wikipedians who have a similar fascination with sports. Overall, I was missing the interaction aspect of Wikipedia, and while I take responsibility for this due to my article being posted late, I am hoping to find these meaningful interactions after this class finishes. As I have mentioned, I have very little history with online communities, so continuing to explore Wikipedia and continuing to interact with other users, will be the best way for me to get the most out of my online community experience. As we have said throughout the year, communities require meaningful interactions.