Monday, April 27, 2015

What It’s Like to Edit Wikipedia

“The tensions can sometimes resemble those that roil political parties in transition. It can be an inhospitable place for new editors. A neophyte editor who hits ‘edit’ on an article will be presented with text that looks more like code than prose. If she still manages to make her edit, she then faces the high likelihood that her change will be reverted back [sic] by a cadre of veteran editors policing for so-called vandalism but also for edits that don’t align with the community’s extensive set of norms. Finally, if she continues to edit and even participates in discussions, she will often encounter raucous, male-dominated debates.”

Saving Wikipedia