W9. Discuss Reagle's chapters 3-4 / posted by Sojeong Yeon

 

1. Summary

 

   In chapter 3, the author mentions the collaborative culture. It asks the participants to assume two complementary postures of Wikipedia collaboration. Those are the stances of Neutral Point of View(NPOV) on matters of knowledge and good faith toward one’s fellow contributors which makes it possible to work together.

   The knowledge claims and other contributors make for extraordinary collaborative potential and the universal vision of increased access to information and social accord. Using the term collaboration in Michael Schrage’s sense, the author said that "collaboration is the process of shared creation. The individuals with complementary skills interacting to create a shared understanding that none had previously possessed. Collaboration creates a shared meaning about a process, a product, or an event.” The term collaborative culture means a set of assumptions, values, meanings, and actions pertaining to working together within a community. As Jenkins defines, participatory culture is the one in which there are support for creation and sharing, and some form of socialization, and members believe that they feel some degree of social connection with one another.

   However, this process of working together will be not effective or enjoyable. Therefore, a culture of demonstrating patience, civility, and humor facilitates collaborating with each others. The first one is a 'patience.' The new contributors are valuable resources. And they are hard to be completely familiar with the policies, standards, style, and community of Wikipedia before they start editing. So people should treat newcomers with kindness and patience. Second, the 'civility' is required to Wikipedian. Treating others with respect is important to collaborating effectively in building an encyclopedia. Wikipedia contributors come from many different countries and cultures, and have widely different views. So the users should respect other contributors. Third, the 'humor' which is not a policy or guideline of Wikipedia suffuses the culture and is the true last resort when faced with maddening circumstances. In fact, Wikipedia is the butt of many jokes.

 

   In chapter 4, the author talks about a central aspiration in the pursuit of a universal encyclopedia. It is an opening of opportunity and capability to anyone with a desire to learn. Wikipedia is the free encyclopedia that anyone can edit. Wikipedian do share common practices and norms, and a collaborative culture. Furthermore, the Wikipedia community members' behaviors are intentional, voluntary, and of benefit to others. And Wikipedia has five characteristics of the open content community.

   First, it provides 'Open content' that is available under licenses. The second is a 'Transparency' which makes its processes, rules, determinations, and their rationales available. Third, it ensures the 'Integrity' of the processes and the participants’ contributions. The fourth is 'Nondiscrimination.' Wikipedia prohibits arbitrary discrimination against persons, groups, or characteristics not relevant to the community’s scope of activity. Finally, the last one is 'Noninterference.' The open content license permits the constituents to take the content and commence work under their own conceptualization without interference.

 

2. Interesting thing

 

   The interesting thing is that a open source software process is not a chaotic free-for-all in which everyone has equal power and influence. The author said that it is certainly not an idyllic community in which consensus reigns and agreement is easy. In fact, what I felt while using Wikipedia is that conflict is usual in this community. Collaborative culture can always be regarded as a major factor in cooperation and belief, but in actuality there is conflict in the cooperative culture. This is a natural feature of the open source process.

   And the new thing which I got to know is that Wikipedia is the butt of many jokes. According the author's says, in August 2009 there were over seven hundred articles listed in Wikipedia’s humor category, 135 including a dozen or so songs and poems. I thought Wikipedia was far from humorous features because it pursues objectivity and neutrality. I also thought accuracy, rigor, and sincerity were the core of Wikipedia, but I found that humor was also an important factor in the cooperative culture of Wikipedia.

 

3. Discussion question

 

  I think that the sharp conflicts and controversies are part of the cooperative culture in the end. Of course long-term conflicts are not positive. However, I thought that the conflicts and conflicts that arise in the process of cooperation could be the motive force for generating a greater level of cooperation. I would like to hear the opinions of other students about this.