Good Faith Collaboration: The Culture of Wikipedia

Joseph Michael Reagle Jr.

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Chapter One - Nazis and NormsIntroduction

• The VisionThe mission is to create “free encyclopedia via rigorous expert review under a free documentation license.”Using free and open source software to facilitate ease of use.Any one can access the article, edit the content and participate in a discussion specific to the page. (The next step in the long standing development of a repository for all human knowledge.)

• The EncyclopediaWikipedia evolved from Nupedia—an internet encyclopedia (the original peer-review project).The demise of Nupedia was due to the development of free and open source software.A wiki is a piece of server software. It is used as an on-line collaborative tool that allows the user to create and edit information on a web page using any web browser.

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Chapter One (continued)

• The CommunityContributors to Wikipedia fall into three different categories:

The administrators; and The elite – frequent editors and contributors of articles; andWiki gnomes who correct typos and make other smaller contributions to articles.

• The CultureNeeds a civil discourse to operate.“…suffused with a coexisting web of practices, discussion and policy pages.”Operates on 3 core policies: Neutral Point of View(NPOV), No Original Research and Verifiability:NPOV helps reduce conflict and present a fair presentation of all sides to a dispute.No Original research helps reduce vanity links and pet projects; also promotes publication of verifiable information.Verifiability means that readers can check the information with outside, reliable sources.

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Chapter 2 - The Pursuit of the Universal EncyclopediaHistory and Background

• Before ComputersIndex cards and Microfilm

Paul Otlet – The Repertory Developer of a Universal Decimal Classification system

H.G. Wells – The World BrainThought a world encyclopedia would bring all disjointed knowledge into a collective of understanding.Demonstrated notions about this encyclopedia similar to the three fundamental of Wikipedia. (p.26)

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Chapter Two (continued)

• The Computer Age Interpedia(concurrent with Wikipedia?)Distributed Encyclopedia

Nupedia (the precursor to Wikipedia)Developed by Sanger and WalesIssues with getting contributors to the site Wikipedia a side project created by Wales to test the Wiki open concept server software Wikipedia proved to be more popular and easier to use.Server for Nupedia crashes and is not resurrected, and Wales and Sanger part company.

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Chapter 3 – Good Faith CollaborationWhat does it mean

• Collaborative CultureParticipatory cultureWikis by their nature are collaborative“…a set of assumptions about working together in a collaborative community” (p.47)Working together to create a sum greater than what they can do on their own (p.47)Regenerative and recursive feedback: “feeding back of positive research results to improve the means by which the researcher themselves can pursue their work.”Collaboration is facilitated through red links (a part that does not yet exist), stubs (articles with only a few sentences that are ready to be fleshed out), discussion pages, and forums.Oversight by admins is the last safeguard.

• Wiki Practice and PolicyThe norms:Essays: Non-authoritative pages that may contain useful insightGuidelines: actionable norms approved by general consensusPolicy: “More official and less likely to have exceptions” (p.52)

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Chapter 3 (Continued)

• Wikipedia Policy, Guidelines, and the Five PillarsPolicy (6 policies)– in regard to Conduct (civility, consensus, and no personal attacks)(7) Guidelines – 1. is Behavioral (6 others mainly address content)The five pillars of Wikipedia:

It is an on-line encyclopedia It has a neutral point of view It is free content All should act in a respectful manner (good faith code of conduct) It does not have firm rules

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Chapter 3 (Continued)

• Neutral Point of View and Good Faith: an ExampleNeutral Point of View(NPOV) –

Neutral stance allows people who would not normally agree the chance to collaborate

Differences between “neutral point of view “and unbiased” (p.57)

Good Faith – assuming the best of othersPracticing patience so as to not escalate conflict.Treating newcomers with respect “do not bite the newcomers”staying on topic not promoting individual agendas

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Chapter 3 (Continued)

• The Epistemic Stance of Neutral Point of View

• The Intersubjective Stance of Good FaithAssuming the best of othersPatience – so as not to escalate conflictsCivility – respect other contributors

“Civility acts as both a baseline for building a culture of good faith and as a last line of defense against escalation.” (p.67)Humor – promotes self reflection

Wikipedia is supposed to be an enjoyable experience

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Chapter 4 – The Puzzle of OpennessWhat does it mean

• Open Content CommunitiesOpenness but not to the level that anything goes

Open ContentA more pragmatic application based on the ideology of freedom.What standards should we use to judge open content. Can the information be judged by objective standards? Knowledge claims cannot.

Transparency and IntegrityNo hidden agendas when the articles are open for all to see.“Because fair process builds trust and commitment, people will go above and beyond the call of duty.”Everything is documented so everyone can see what is going on; encourages trust in the Wikipedia process.Stewards

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Chapter 4 (Continued)

NondiscriminationAny hierarchal structure attributed by contributors to each other is discouraged; no elitesRules of Conduct limit….No cultural obstacles to newcomers

Noninterference“Because the content is available under an open/free license, those dissatisfied with it or the community can take the content and work on it elsewhere.” (p.82)Forks of Wikipedia

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Chapter 4 (Continued)

• Discussing OpennessCan anyone edit?

Unregistered/anonymous users can edit in addition to registered users.Every edit is captured and can be viewed on an article’s history pageProblem of vandalism: articles can be protected by admins, which prohibits edits by non-administrative usersAdmins have the power to block users“Semi- protection:” prevents unregistered users or users registered within the last four days from editing a page

Interfacing with the outside worldWhat is the community’s responsibility towards the information it houses

BureaucracySome degree of policy is necessary in any communityBureaucratization is a common feature of organizational development.

Enclaves and GenderWhen a subset of community members creates a closed spaceWikiChix

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Chapter 5 – The Challenges of ConsensusConsensus in Decision making

• The Case of DisambiguationDisambiguation pages are used when there are multiple pages with similar of identical page titlesDisagreement on how disambiguation pages should be appliedArbitration Committee (ArbCom) – panel of experienced users that exists to impose binding solutions to Wikipedia disputes that neither communal discussion, administrators, no mediation have been able to resolve.ArbCom Decisions documented on a wiki page (transparency)

• Rough ConsensusGeneral agreementConsensus is overwhelming agreement that does not mean unanimity

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Chapter 5 (Continued)

• Deliberation and OpennessGoal is to arrive at the best possible solution.Wikipedia’s Consensus Policy: “Achieving consensus requires serious treatment of every group member’s considered opinion.” (p. 103?)Time and Precedence ?

• The Facilitator(p.106)

• Polling and VotingVoting is generally treated hostilely on Wikipedia (p.110)Voting and polling thought to discourage consensusOnline voting is easy to skew: people can create multiple accounts (sock puppets)Consensus presumes good faith, voting does not (enforces division)

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Chapter 6 – The Benevolent DictatorLeadership

• Authorial LeadershipAuthorial leadership – leadership by one who originates or creates.Wales quote concerning leadership style , p.118“Wikipedia is not an anarchy, though it has anarchistic features. Wikipedia is not a democracy, though it has democratic features. Wikipedia is not an aristocracy, though it has aristocratic features. Wikipedia is not a monarchy, thought it has monarchical features.”Leadership in open content communities arises from leadership through action rather than appointment, and expectations of leadership by example.“While a founding leadership role has some semblance of authoritarianism to it,…it is eternally contingent: a dissatisfied community …can always leave and start again under new leadership.” (p.119)

• Wales and SangerWales hires Sanger to Launch Nupedia in Feb. 2000Good cop, bad cop issues arise do to differing styles of leadership (management?) between the partners. Sanger is frustrated with the slow progress of Nupedia and the unruliness of Wikipedia.Sanger leaves Wikipedia to start Citizendium (amore”expert-friendly collaborative encyclopedia”) (p.120)

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Chapter 6 (Continued)

• Wales InfluenceShuns the content contributor role in favor of a more hands-off approach to leadership.“I am not in my present position because I am smart but because I am friendly.” (p.123)Wikipedia contributors keep Wales in check when he attempts to stir the direction of Wikipedia, encouraging people to vote for specific candidates to the “Board of Trustees” (p.124)

• Beyond the Founders: Admins, ArbCom, and the BoardLeadership and governance structure of Wikipedia contributors (responsibilty rather than rights) , listed from least? to most? authority (all are volunteers)

Anyone can edit Contributors who sign up for an account have access to user pages and the ability

to track pages.System Administrators--a more experienced user—can enact Wikipedia policy and

group consensus. (Steward?)and Bureaucrats appoint administrators

Developer s write software and administer the servers (acting outside of the article contributor roles)

• Discussing Leadership

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Chapter 7 – Encyclopedic Anxiety

• The Normativeness of the Reference Work

• Bias: Progressive and Conservative

• Criticisms of Wikipedia and “Web 2.0”Collaborative PracticeUniversal VisionEncyclopedic Impulse

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Chapter 8 – Conclusion: “A Globe in Accord”