W2 : Why Wikipedia? / Wikipedia and alienation
● Why Wikipedia?
● Problems : Wikipedia and alienation
1) Why Wikipedia has become more acceptable
Through this week's lecture, I learned why Wikipedia has become acceptable and why I should get used to it.
One of Wikipedia's characteristics is that it does not guarantee any financial benefits. Many people are participating in these tasks simply for fun or just volunteering. Wikipedia suggests a new anthropological perspective in that it is an encyclopedia that participates not for financial gain but for pride.
Secondly, Wikipedia is a platform with excellent participation effectiveness. It is very attractive that participation in the work is immediately seen by many people. Also, it is more tempting that the process is not difficult. Personally, I think this is similar to today's social network, such as Instagram or Facebook. And I think that's one of the reasons why Wikipedia is becoming more popular nowadays.
Finally, Wikipedia is becoming more influential today. At
first, Wikipedia was barbaric, but now it has become a trusted website in many
fields. All New things today are going through Wikipedia. Wikipedia is trendy,
influential, and reliable in some ways. Back then, it was minor, but now it
becomes mainstream. If I don't get used to it, I may someday be left out.
2) Wikipedia is not simply defined as "A site for making encyclopedia"
It was interesting that Wikipedia is not simply defined as a "site for making encyclopedia". In fact, at first, when I didn't know much about Wikipedia, I thought of Wikipedia only as an "Internet Encyclopedia" site where anyone could describe what they knew.
But Wikipedia was more than I thought. Aside from the encyclopedia, Wikipedia was a treasure that we can study people's collaboration. I was surprised a lot. Because “knowledge” acts as a means, not a goal of Wikipedia. In Wikipedia, knowledge is not the ultimate goal, but a means to study the anthropological and sociological processes that occur when people collaborate in Wikipedia, the Internet world.
Internet Encyclopedia, designed to see people collaborating. It
is ironic and impressive.
3) Problems : Wikipedia and alienation
Wikipedia is an encyclopedia based on the Internet. Therefore, it is relatively difficult for older generations, especially older people, to participate in editing Wikipedia. In fact, the participation rate is relatively small compared to the younger population. This means that technical limitations clearly exist. However, the elderly population is a cultural and anthropological history. This means that they can suggest something very valuable to Wikipedia.
Also, people who live in areas where Internet use is
difficult to participate in editing Wikipedia. In this case, content will be
biased toward regions or ages that participate in editing a lot. I would like
to discuss the phenomenon of alienation of not being able to participate in
editing Wikipedia due to technical and environmental limitations.
The fact that various age groups are not able to participate seems to be a fresh approach. If Wikipedia can contain the senior's “the wisdom of age”, it will be a much better platform. It would be great if people who are proficient in Wikipedia could visit senior experts to supplement and check Wikipedia's contents on related topics!
ReplyDeleteI read your post very well! After reading your writing, I think I thought about what I missed once again. I deeply sympathized with two of your posts.
ReplyDeleteOne is that Wikipedia is not just a platform for making encyclopedias! You'll know when you read my post, but I was also very surprised at that part. Because while I was taking classes and searching for things, I saw a public quote of Wikipedia in a prominent academic magazine like Nature. I thought it was a platform where people simply share information and co-produce it, but I was surprised because it was more reliable!
Second, I deeply sympathize with the alienation of Wikipedia you mentioned. The professor kindly introduced me how to edit Wikipedia, but it's still very difficult for me. At first, it was a little hard to read how to read it! For a generation of people far from digital, Wikipedia may be a platform to stay away from because of difficulty in editing rather than sharing information.
I read your writing well.
ReplyDeleteThanks to your summary, I am once again comfortable organizing about the platform called Wikipedia. As we get to know Wikipedia, I agree that we should get used to it in line with this change. This is because Wikipedia will continue to evolve into a "means" of research and be used by more people.
However, as you say, this platform is unfamiliar to the older generation now that the era of digitalization has come. Just as many restaurants take orders for 'kiosks', which also often occur when older people can't even order because they can't use them, Wikipedia may not be able to do its role. So I think it is necessary to examine what is an easy way for everyone to use.
I agree with the problem of alienation. These problems probably come from difficulties with technology. I belong to a relatively young generation, but I also have difficulty editing and writing Wikipedia. I think we should focus on simplifying Wikipedia usage rather than teaching them how to use Wikipedia.
ReplyDeleteI sympathize with your sense of problem. Wikipedia seems like open to all people. But in real world, there are many hurdles. Various difficulties block that diverse people write in wiki. I think requiring many sources is reasonable. But it disturb to write minority's history.
ReplyDelete