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The Rise and Decline of an Open Collaboration System: How Wikipedia’s reaction to sudden popularity is causing its decline. American Behavioral Scientist (in press
"... Open collaboration systems like Wikipedia need to maintain a pool of volunteer contributors in order to remain relevant. Wikipedia was created through a tremendous number of contributions by millions of contributors. However, recent research has shown that the number of active contributors in Wikipe ..."
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Open collaboration systems like Wikipedia need to maintain a pool of volunteer contributors in order to remain relevant. Wikipedia was created through a tremendous number of contributions by millions of contributors. However, recent research has shown that the number of active contributors in Wikipedia has been declining steadily for years, and suggests that a sharp decline in the retention of newcomers is the cause. This paper presents data that show that several changes the Wikipedia community made to manage quality and consistency in the face of a massive growth in participation have ironically crippled the very growth they were designed to manage. Specifically, the restrictiveness of the encyclopedia’s primary quality control mechanism and the algorithmic tools used to reject contributions are implicated as key causes of decreased newcomer retention. Further, the community’s formal mechanisms for norm articulation are shown to have calcified against changes – especially changes proposed by newer editors. Introduction and related work Open collaboration systems like Wikipedia require a large pool of volunteer contributors.
Co-creation: Towards a taxonomy and an integrated research perspective
- report | TNO 2012 R11277 Making User Created News Work 113 / 130 APPENDIX A – LIST OF PARTICIPANTS OF EXPERT WORKSHOP, INTERVIEWS AND ADVISORY GROUP WORKSHOP PARTICIPANTS Beukers, Jorien
, 2010
"... Abstract: Enabled by the Internet-Web compound, co‑creation of value by consumers has emerged as a major force in the marketplace. In sponsored co‑creation, which takes place at the behest of producers, the activities of consumers drive or support the producers’ business models. Autonomous co‑creati ..."
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Abstract: Enabled by the Internet-Web compound, co‑creation of value by consumers has emerged as a major force in the marketplace. In sponsored co‑creation, which takes place at the behest of producers, the activities of consumers drive or support the producers’ business models. Autonomous co‑creation is a wide range of consumer activities that amount to consumer-side production of value. Thus, individuals and communities have become a significant, and growing, productive force in e‑commerce. To recognize co‑creation, so broadly understood, as a fundamental area of e‑commerce research, it is necessary to attain an integrated research perspective on this greatly varied, yet cohering, domain. The enabling information technology needs to be developed to suit the context. Toward these ends, the paper analyzes the intellectual space underlying co‑creation research and proposes an inclusive taxonomy of Web-based co‑creation, informed both by the extant multidisciplinary research and by results obtained in the natural laboratory of the Web. The essential directions of co‑creation research are outlined, and some promising avenues of future work discussed. The taxonomic framework and the research perspective lay a foundation for the future development of co‑creation theory and practice. The certainty of
Beyond notability. Collective deliberation on content inclusion in Wikipedia. Second international workshop on quality in techno-social systems
, 2010
"... Abstract—In this study we analyse the structure of a particular form of collective decision-making in Wikipedia, i.e. decisions regarding content inclusion and deletion. Wikipedia’s official guidelines require that only topics that meet “notability ” standards be included with a dedicated article. D ..."
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Abstract—In this study we analyse the structure of a particular form of collective decision-making in Wikipedia, i.e. decisions regarding content inclusion and deletion. Wikipedia’s official guidelines require that only topics that meet “notability ” standards be included with a dedicated article. Decisions as to whether a topic is “notable ” are made by groups of self-appointed reviewers, who assess the alleged encyclopaedic nature of a topic via so called Article for Deletion discussions. We analyse the structure and dynamics of these discussions in order to identify possible biases affecting their outcome. We show in particular the effects of voter heterogeneity and herding behaviour on the functioning of these collective deliberation processes. I.
Defining, understanding, and supporting open collaboration: Lessons from the literature. American Behavioral Scientist
, 2013
"... The past twenty years have seen broad popularization of a relatively novel kind of human enterprise: open collaboration. Open collaboration projects are distributed, collaborative efforts made possible because of changes in information and communication technology that facilitate cooperative activit ..."
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Cited by 7 (2 self)
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The past twenty years have seen broad popularization of a relatively novel kind of human enterprise: open collaboration. Open collaboration projects are distributed, collaborative efforts made possible because of changes in information and communication technology that facilitate cooperative activities. The groundswell of open collaboration could be felt in the open source movement of the 90s but became unmistakable with the growth of projects like Wikipedia and, in particular, the maturation of research to help explain how and why such systems work, who participates, and when they might fail. By now thousands of scholars have written about open collaboration systems, many hundreds of thousands of people have participated in them, and millions of people use products of open collaboration every day. This special issue of American Behavioral Scientist assembles interdisciplinary scholarship that examines different aspects of open collaboration and the diverse systems that support it. The goal of this short introductory piece is to define open collaboration and contextualize a set of articles that span multiple disciplines and methods in a common vocabulary and history. We provide a definition of open collaboration and situate the phenomenon within an interrelated set of scholarly and ideological movements. We then examine the properties of open collaboration systems that have given rise to research and review major areas of scholarship, including the works in this issue, and close with a
Coordination and Beyond: Social Functions of Groups in Open Content Production Andrea Forte Drexel University
"... We report on a study of the English edition of Wikipedia in which we used a mixed methods approach to understand how nested organizational structures called WikiProjects support collaboration. We first conducted two rounds of interviews with a total of 20 Wikipedians to understand how WikiProjects f ..."
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We report on a study of the English edition of Wikipedia in which we used a mixed methods approach to understand how nested organizational structures called WikiProjects support collaboration. We first conducted two rounds of interviews with a total of 20 Wikipedians to understand how WikiProjects function and what it’s like to participate in them from the perspective of Wikipedia editors. We then used a quantitative approach to further explore interpretations that arose from the qualitative data. Our analysis of these data together demonstrates how WikiProjects not only help Wikipedians coordinate tasks and produce articles, but also support community members and small groups of editors in important ways such as: providing a place to find collaborators, socialize and network; protecting editors ’ work; and structuring opportunities to contribute. Author Keywords
Laboratories of oligarchy? how the iron law extends to peer production
- Journal of Communication
, 2014
"... Abstract: Peer production projects like Wikipedia have inspired voluntary associa-tions, collectives, social movements, and scholars to embrace open online collabora-tion as a model of democratic organization. However, many peer production projects exhibit entrenched leadership and deep inequalities ..."
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Abstract: Peer production projects like Wikipedia have inspired voluntary associa-tions, collectives, social movements, and scholars to embrace open online collabora-tion as a model of democratic organization. However, many peer production projects exhibit entrenched leadership and deep inequalities, suggesting that they may not fulfill democratic ideals. Instead, peer production projects may conform to Robert Michels’ “iron law of oligarchy”, which proposes that democratic membership organizations become increasingly oligarchic as they grow. Using exhaustive data of internal pro-cesses from a sample of 683 wikis, we construct empirical measures of participation and test for increases in oligarchy associated with growth in wikis ’ contributor bases. In contrast to previous studies, we find support for Michels ’ iron law and conclude that peer production entails oligarchic organizational forms.
Deletion discussions in Wikipedia: Decision factors and outcomes
- In 8th International Symposium on Wikis and Open Collaboration, WikiSym
, 2012
"... Deletion of articles is a common process in Wikipedia, in order to ensure the overall quality of the encyclopedia. Yet, there is a need to better understand the procedures in order to promote the best decisions without unnecessary community work. In this paper, we study deletion in Wikipedia, drawin ..."
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Deletion of articles is a common process in Wikipedia, in order to ensure the overall quality of the encyclopedia. Yet, there is a need to better understand the procedures in order to promote the best decisions without unnecessary community work. In this paper, we study deletion in Wikipedia, drawing from factor analysis, and taking an in-depth, content-analysis-based approach. We address three research questions: First, what factors contribute to the deci-sion about whether to delete a given article? Second, when multiple factors are given, what is the relative importance of those factors? Third, what are the outcomes of deletion discussions, both for ar-ticles and for the community? We find that multiple factors con-tribute to the assessment of an article, and we discuss their relative frequency. Further, we show how the assessment timeline focuses attention on improving borderline articles that have the potential to meet Wikipedia’s content inclusion policies, and we highlight the role of novice contributors in this improvement process.
Collaborative sensemaking during admin permission granting in Wikipedia
- In Online Communities and Social Computing
"... Abstract. A self-governed, open contributor system such as Wikipedia depends upon those who are invested in the system to participate as administrators. Processes for selecting which system contributors will be allowed to assume administrative roles in such communities have developed in the last few ..."
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Abstract. A self-governed, open contributor system such as Wikipedia depends upon those who are invested in the system to participate as administrators. Processes for selecting which system contributors will be allowed to assume administrative roles in such communities have developed in the last few years as these systems mature. However, little is yet known about such processes, which are becoming increasingly important for the health and maintenance of contributor systems that are becoming increasingly important in the knowledge economy. This paper reports the results of an exploratory study of how members of the Wikipedia community engage in collaborative sensemaking when deciding which members to advance to admin status.
Editing Beyond Articles: Diversity & Dynamics of Teamwork in Open Collaborations
"... We report a study of Wikipedia in which we use a mixed-methods approach to understand how participation in specialized workgroups called WikiProjects has changed over the life of the encyclopedia. While previous work has analyzed the work of WikiProjects in supporting the development of articles wit ..."
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We report a study of Wikipedia in which we use a mixed-methods approach to understand how participation in specialized workgroups called WikiProjects has changed over the life of the encyclopedia. While previous work has analyzed the work of WikiProjects in supporting the development of articles within particular subject domains, the collaborative role of WikiProjects that do not fit this conventional mold has not been empirically examined. We combine content analysis, interviews and analysis of edit logs to identify and characterize these alternative WikiProjects and the work they do. Our findings suggest that WikiProject participation reflects community concerns and shifts in the community’s conception of valued work over the past six years. We discuss implications for other open collaborations that need flexible, adaptable coordination mechanisms to support a range of content creation, curation and community maintenance tasks. Author Keywords Wikipedia; group work; group dynamics; open collaboration
Building Governance Capability in Online Social Production: Insights from Wikipedia
, 2015
"... Abstract This article investigates a form of governance that makes online social production possible. Drawing on the concepts of capability and routine, we develop a dynamic, process-oriented view that departs from past research focused on static comparative analysis. We theorize that online social ..."
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Abstract This article investigates a form of governance that makes online social production possible. Drawing on the concepts of capability and routine, we develop a dynamic, process-oriented view that departs from past research focused on static comparative analysis. We theorize that online social production systems develop a collective governance capability to steer the process of integrating distributed knowledge resources to the production of value. Governance mechanisms emerge from individual and collective learning that is made possible by new technology, and they evolve over time, as routines are developed to respond to new problems faced by a growing production system. Using Wikipedia as a paradigmatic example of online social production, we characterize governance as an evolving, enabling and embedded process and discuss implications for a dynamic theory of governance.
