Submissions:2014/Why people contribute to Wikipedia


 * Title of the submission: "Why people contribute to Wikipedia"


 * Themes: Community and Outreach


 * Type of submission: Presentation


 * Author of the submission: Susan J. Hewitt


 * E-mail address: hewsub@earthlink.net


 * Username: Invertzoo


 * US state or country of origin: NY (originally from the UK)


 * Affiliation, if any: affiliated with American Museum of Natural History


 * Personal homepage or blog: My Wikipedia user page: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Invertzoo


 * Abstract

Examining the why, how, and where of Wikipedia contribution

For those of us who are long-time editors, some preliminary questions are: Why did we start contributing? What exactly was it that motivated us to start? And why did we keep going, rather than losing interest? Why did we not give up and leave when we were criticized or attacked? If the amount of our contributions has fallen off over the years, why exactly has this happened?

Has the nature of Wikipedia changed significantly since we started? And if so, in what ways? Are some of these new aspects things that might discourage a new editor?

What is there now that would make people want to contribute to Wikipedia? What is it that would keep people working over the years? And of equal importance: what is it that makes people NOT want to contribute? Why are people hesitant or reluctant to help out? (For example: some people I have talked to think that they would have to write a whole entire article by themselves. They have no idea that a thousand other options are available to them for every conceivable kind of useful work towards building an encyclopedia, and that tiny contributions are often as valuable as large ones.)

How can we make sure that people know that ANYONE REALLY CAN contribute to Wikipedia? (in my experience most people have no idea they can edit.) How can we make sure people know that we very much WELCOME their help?

How has the way that new contributors approach the encyclopedia changed over the years? How has their reception (or lack of it) from the community changed over the years? In what ways? If some of the ways are negative, how can we attempt to improve this?

How can we inspire more new people to start helping? How can we welcome them and thank them for their work, while still making sure their contributions are good enough? How can we try to make sure the new contributors feel supported? (Tea Room is certainly a step in the right direction.)

The growth and flourishing of Wikipedia now and on into the future requires that each one of us be aware of these issues and attempt come up with our own answers to these questions. The community itself needs to take a lot of the responsibility for the flourishing of the community. We need to always keep one eye on the big picture and not just focus on improving the content of the encyclopedia. As a community we have achieved many "impossible" things over the years; equally we should be prepared to tackle and overcome any new "impossibilities".


 * Length of presentation/talk: This could be 75 minutes if that would be suitable, or could instead easily be half or one third of a panel session.


 * Will you attend WikiConference USA if your submission is not accepted?

Yes, and I am putting together other suggested shorter submissions on other topics.


 * Slides or further information (optional): May or may not not need Powerpoint for this one


 * Special request as to time of presentations: I am pretty flexible

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 * 1) Rhododendrites (talk) --09:33, 10 April 2014 (EDT)
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