Post on 13-Dec-2014
description
Andrew'Lih'http://andrewlih.com'Twitter:'Fuzheado''Email:lih@american.edu
The'Future'of'Knowledgein'the'age'of'Wikipedia
September'19,'2014REMIX'Summit'NYC
Associate'professor'of'journalism'American'University'School'of'Communication
Andrew'Lih'author'of''The'Wikipedia'RevolutionTwitter:'@Fuzheado
article view sourcediscussion history
HOW A BUNCH OF NOBODIES CREATED THE WORLD’S
GREATEST ENCYCLOPEDIA“Imagine a world in which every single person
on the planet is given free access to the sum of
all human knowledge. That’s what we’re doing.”
—Jimmy Wales
With more than 2,000,000 individual articles on
everything from Aa! (a Japanese pop group) to
Zzyzx, California, written by an army of volunteer
contributors, Wikipedia is the #8 site on the World
Wide Web. Created (and corrected) by anyone with
access to a computer, this impressive assemblage
of knowledge is growing at an astonishing rate of
more than 30,000,000 words a month. Now for the
first time, a Wikipedia insider tells the story of how
it all happened—from the first glimmer of an idea to
the global phenomenon it’s become.
Andrew Lih has been an administrator (a trusted
user who is granted access to technical features)
at Wikipedia for more than four years, as well as a
regular host of the weekly Wikipedia podcast. In The
Wikipedia Revolution, he details the site’s inception
in 2001, its evolution, and its remarkable growth,
while also explaining its larger cultural repercussions.
Wikipedia is not just a website; it’s a global commu-
nity of contributors who have banded together out of
a shared passion for making knowledge free.
Featuring a Foreword by Wikipedia founder Jimmy
Wales and an Afterword that is itself a Wikipedia
creation.
U.S. $24.99
ANDREW LIH was an academic in new media and
journalism for ten years, at Columbia University
and Hong Kong University. He has been a com-
mentator on new media, technology, and journal-
ism issues on CNN, MSNBC, and NPR. Lih is
based in Beijing.
Become a part of The Wikipedia Revolution yourself,
and try your hand at editing the last chapter at: http://
www.wikipediarevolution.com/wiki/Main_Page
Jacket design by Ervin Serrano
Jacket photographs: globe by Frank Whitney/Jupiterimages;
puzzle by Shutterstock
Author photograph by Mei Fong
3/09
Prin
ted
in U
SA ©
200
9 H
yper
ion
Wikipedia RevolutionFrom Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search
This article is about the book. For the different, similar terms related to Wikipedia, see
Wikipedia (terminology).
For Wikipedia’s non-encyclopedic visitor introduction, see Wikipedia:About.
Wikipedia Revolution (pronunciation ) is the story of the free,[1] multilingual ency-
clopedia project supported by the non-profit Wikimedia Foundation. The website’s name
is a portmanteau of the words wiki (a technology for creating collaborative websites) and
encyclopedia. Wikipedia’s 10 million articles have been written collaboratively by volun-
teers around the world, and almost all of its articles can be edited by anyone who can
access the Wikipedia website.[2] Launched in 2001 by Jimmy Wales and Larry Sanger,[3] it
is currently the largest and most popular[1] general reference work on the Internet.[4][5][6]
The Wikipedia Revolution traces Wikipedia’s phenomenal success back to its roots, and
profiles the people who have contributed to its stated mission of giving every single person
free access to the sum of all human knowledge.
THE WIKIPEDIA REVOLUTION
ANDREW LIH
How a Bunch of Nobodies Created the W
orld’s Greatest Encyclopedia
ISBN: 978-1-4013-0371-6
ANDREW L IH
From the Introduction to The Wikipedia Revolution by Wikipedia founder, Jimmy Wales
By now, it’s hard not to use the Internet without experiencing Wikipedia in
searches and surfing. It has become an incredibly useful Internet resource in
many languages. Yet when you use Wikipedia, you may not understand the
philosophy behind it.
This book tells the story of how Wikipedia began and evolved from a traditional
encyclopedia into the intricate global community that it is today.
Case of Wikipedia
Works in practice, but not in theory
by bored-now@flickr, licensed under Creative Commons Attribution NC License
Problem with Wikipedia...
Jimmy Wales
By WiLLGT09@flickr, file is licensed under Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 2.0 Generic
Larry Sanger
by SimSullen, licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 License
Nupedia (2000)1.Assignment
2.Finding a lead reviewer
3.Lead review
4.Open review
5.Lead copyediting
6.Open copyediting
7.Final approval and markup
How many articles?
1 year = 12 articlesBy observing life@flickr, file is licensed under Attribution 2.0 Generic
Something had to change
Ward CunninghamThis file is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 License
Wikipedia Growth
2007
ComScore: Top 5 Alexa: Top 6
!
Consistently outranked only by Google, Yahoo, Microsoft
Photo by: victoriapeckham@flickr, Creative Commons
Wikipedia’s rank
Comscore: Nov 2009 Alexa: May 2012
Roughly: 4.5 million English articles
31+ million total articles270+ languages
(April 2014)
by bored-now@flickr, licensed under Creative Commons Attribution NC License
Wikipedia articles
Wikipedia printed
English Wikipedia1,980 volumes
10 stacks
20 bln pageviews/month 500 mln unique visitors/month
!
(April 2014)
http://reportcard.wmflabs.org/#core-graphs-tab; by bored-now@flickr, licensed under Creative Commons Attribution NC License
Wikipedia traffic
75,000 users > 5 edits/month 11,000 users > 100 edits/month
!
(April 2014)
by bored-now@flickr, licensed under Creative Commons Attribution NC License
Wikipedia editors (global)
http://stats.wikimedia.org/reportcard/
Core policies
• Neutral point of view (NPOV)
• Verifiability (V)
• Reliable sources (RS)
• Conflict of interest (COI)
Neutral point of view (NPOV) Verifiability (V)
Reliable sources (RS) Conflict of interest (COI)
Core Policies
Wikipedia’s roleNews cycle to historical record
Information*Priorities
Accuracy
Information*Priorities
Speed Depth
Accuracy
Information*Priorities
Speed Depth
Accuracy
Information*Priorities
Speed Depth
Accuracy
Journalism
Information*Priorities
Speed Depth
Accuracy
Journalism
Spot news
Information*Priorities
Speed Depth
Accuracy
Journalism
Spot news
Information*Priorities
Live news
Speed Depth
Accuracy
Journalism
Spot news
Investigative
Information*Priorities
Live news
Speed Depth
Accuracy
Journalism
Spot news
Investigative
Features
Information*Priorities
Live news
Speed Depth
Accuracy
Journalism History
Spot news
Investigative
Features
Information*Priorities
Live news
Speed Depth
Accuracy
Journalism History
Spot news
Investigative
Features
Scholarly research
Information*Priorities
Live news
Speed Depth
Accuracy
Journalism History
Spot news
Investigative
Features
Scholarly research
Information*Priorities
Live news
Books
Speed Depth
Accuracy
Journalism History
Spot news
Investigative
Features
Scholarly research
Information*Priorities
Live newsFilm
Books
Speed Depth
Accuracy
Journalism History
Spot news
Investigative
Features Encyclopedias
Scholarly research
Information*Priorities
Live newsFilm
Books
Speed Depth
Accuracy
Journalism History
Spot news
Investigative
FeaturesMuseums
Encyclopedias
Scholarly research
Information*Priorities
Live newsFilm
Books
Speed Depth
Accuracy
Journalism History
Spot news
Investigative
FeaturesMuseums
Encyclopedias
Scholarly research
Information*Priorities
Live newsFilm
Books
Speed Depth
Accuracy
Journalism History
Spot news
Investigative
FeaturesMuseums
Encyclopedias
Scholarly research
Information*Priorities
Live newsFilm
Knowledge Gap
Books
Core policies
• Neutral point of view (NPOV)
• Verifiability (V)
• Reliable sources (RS)
• Conflict of interest (COI)
Too old for the news Too new for the history books
Knowledge Gap
Core policies
• Neutral point of view (NPOV)
• Verifiability (V)
• Reliable sources (RS)
• Conflict of interest (COI)
"Trying to determine what is going on in the world by reading newspapers is like trying to tell
the time by watching the second hand of a clock"
-Ben Hecht
Inadequacy of the News
Core policies
• Neutral point of view (NPOV)
• Verifiability (V)
• Reliable sources (RS)
• Conflict of interest (COI)
Wikipedia changes everything
Curating the News
Speed Depth
Accuracy
Journalism History
Spot news MuseumsEncyclopedias
Scholarly research
Information*Priorities
Live newsFilm
Investigative
Features
Books
Speed Depth
Accuracy
Journalism History
Spot news MuseumsEncyclopedias
Scholarly research
Information*Priorities
Live newsFilm
Investigative
Features
Wikipedia
Books
Speed Depth
Accuracy
Journalism History
Spot news MuseumsEncyclopedias
Scholarly research
Information*Priorities
Live newsFilm
Investigative
Features
Wikipedia
2001Peer production
Books
Speed Depth
Accuracy
Journalism History
Spot news MuseumsEncyclopedias
Scholarly research
Information*Priorities
Live newsFilm
Investigative
Features
Wikipedia
2005Topic coverage
Books
Speed Depth
Accuracy
Journalism History
Spot news MuseumsEncyclopedias
Scholarly research
Information*Priorities
Live newsFilm
Investigative
FeaturesWikipediaBooks
Wikipedia Revolution
• “Crowd” delivers the hardest parts: speed and depth
• Wikipedia’s accuracy increasing with time
News History
Knowledge Gap
WikipediaNews History
WikipediaNews History
open content collaboration
open authority
Commons multimedia
GLAM wiki
WikipediaNews History
open content collaboration
startups
open authoritydata journalism
Commons multimedia
WikiData
GLAM wiki
Wikipedian in residence2010: Liam Wyatt at British Museum
[[Rosetta stone]] article had 5x more traffic than on museum’s own site (2009)
Dominic McDevitt-Parks Wikipedian in residence US National Archives
David Ferriero National Archives and Records Administration Archivist of the United States
#WikiAPA Edit-a-thon Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center
Cultural appropriation/historical accuracyNational Museum of the American Indian
Challenges for Wikipedia
Wikipedia growth slowdown
Mobiles Multimedia Community
33% of Wikipedia traffic is mobile; 50% by 2025
What does this mean for participation?
Input methods, browsing/creating
Mobiles Multimedia Community
How to make a culture of collaborative multimedia?
Video and interactivity tools?
Mobiles Multimedia Community
Are online communities sustainable?
Wikipedia as teenager Curated collection vs attic
!
!
!
Andrew'Lih'http://andrewlih.com'Twitter:'Fuzheado''Email:lih@american.eduAssociate'professor'of'journalism'American'University'School'of'Communication
Uncharted territory
!GLAM'Wiki'US'Consortium'PBS'Mediashift'podcast Find'me,'Tweet'me,'tell'me'your'story