{"id":1,"date":"2014-08-11T12:23:57","date_gmt":"2014-08-11T12:23:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/thinking.is.ed.ac.uk\/wiki-basics\/?p=1"},"modified":"2020-01-20T17:03:18","modified_gmt":"2020-01-20T17:03:18","slug":"hello-world","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thinking.is.ed.ac.uk\/wiki-basics\/hello-world\/","title":{"rendered":"Why should you edit Wikipedia?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Wikipedia has a problem with systemic bias<\/a>.<\/p>\n

A 2011 survey<\/a> suggests that on English Wikipedia around 90% of editors are male, and are typically formally educated, in white-collar jobs (or students) and living in the Global North.<\/p>\n

if there is a typical Wikipedia editor, he has a college degree, is 30- years-old, is computer savvy but not necessarily a programmer, doesn’t actually spend much time playing games, and lives in US or Europe.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

This means that the articles within Wikipedia typically reflect this bias. For example only 18% of biographies in English Wikipedia are of women<\/a>. Many articles reflect the perspective of English speakers in the northern hemisphere, and many of the topics covered reflect the interests of this relatively small group of editors. Wikipedia needs a diverse community of editors to bring diverse perspectives and interests.<\/p>\n

Wikipedia is also a community that operates with certain expectations and social norms<\/a> in mind. Sometimes new editors can have a less than positive experience when they aren’t fully aware of this.<\/p>\n

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\u201c5 Pillars of Wikipedia\u201d flickr photo by giulia.forsythe https:\/\/flickr.com\/photos\/gforsythe\/21684596874 shared under a Creative Commons (BY) license<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

We need to increase the diversity and number of Wikipedia editors. One way to do that is to run edit-a-thons and other facilitated activities that introduce some of these norms and expectations at the same time learning how to technically edit Wikipedia.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is very fun but challenging at the same time. I feel like I am doing something very meaningful. it not only helps me with my translation skills, but also makes me feel that I am contributing to Wikipedia, to people, to the society.\u201d – Student feedback.<\/strong>
\n<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201c<\/strong>It’s great that I now know more about how Wikipedia works and I actually contributed to it finally<\/em>.\u201d – Student feedback.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cThis was a very enjoyable experience and I feel we learned skills that will be useful in the future.\u201d – Student feedback.<\/strong><\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

More Reading<\/h2>\n