Biancamsalgado

  In analyzing Wikipedia through my own experience, I conclude that there are several ways in which Wikipedia could be improved. With this in mind, I propose three ways in which it can be enhanced. The first way is to incorporate a system that will give verification badges to committed users or stickers just like Yelp has implemented with the Yelp Elite Squad. The second suggestion would be to enforce a system that allows for collaboration to be more significantly prominent. At last, the final recommendation I would advise would be to create a system that allows users to remain anonymous while still holding credibility. 
   As mentioned, my first proposition would be for Wikipedia to adopt a system that rewards committed users with badges such as the “Yelp Elite Squad”. As Stoner (2014) mentioned, the Yelp Elite Squad is a group of Yelp members that have earned high-ranking status on their Yelp profile and gained several exclusive perks for being a top member. The text, Building Successful Online Communities discussed motivation through extrinsic motivation and intrinsic motivation (Kiesler, Kraut, & Resnick, 2012). Intrinsic motivation is defined as doing something for internal satisfaction. While extrinsic motivation is defined as doing something with the expectation of getting something in return. With this knowledge of both of these concepts in class, we analyzed Yelp and Twitch, and the motives individuals have to remain on these platforms. Some intrinsic motives that we found among users on Yelp, were that individuals might join this platform to build a sense of community, have a desire to help others, as well as the desire to express themselves, and so forth. On the other hand, we were able to see that some individuals might want to join this platform for extrinsic motives to get something in return, such as rewards and recognition. 
    With that being said, I want to relate these concepts to the Yelp Elite Squad. In using Wikipedia, I learned there is a “Content Assessment” page. This observation led me to think about ways in which we could make this better. Incorporating a system like Yelp's into Wikipedia would elicit both intrinsic and extrinsic motivation as individuals would have a chance to receive recognition, and personal satisfaction, and to develop a community. Although this "Content Assessment" page is a pleasing idea where individuals are motivated to get to "Featured Article" status; this could be improved by providing fellow Wikipedians with more encouragement to remain on the site. Therefore, my advice should be taken into consideration, as psychology is a very vital aspect to consider when trying to lure new users in, which is why this advice is essential. 
    My second proposal is for Wikipedia to implement a chat feature on its website that allows for more collaboration. In week 2 of April 4th and April 9th, we discussed commitment. In doing so, various apps were analyzed, such as Reddit, Twitter (X), Mastodon and Bluesky. However, what I found most relevant within this week was analyzing the various subreddit groups on Reddit. In scouring through these we were able to discuss different types of communities, some of which included: affective, identity-based, bonds-based, normative, and needs-based commitments. (Kraut, Resnick, & Kiesler, 2012, p.78) Affective is defined as developing emotional ties to a community. Identity-based commitment refers to joining a group to be a part of a community while contributing to its mission. While bond-based commitment, which is also part of affective, refers to remaining on a platform to feel connected to other members of the organization. Normative, is defined as staying committed to a group because one feels the need to stand by it. And lastly, needs-based commitment is defined as remaining part of a group when you feel it would be disadvantageous to leave. 
    When navigating this platform from my experience, I noted that there is a “Talk” feature that allows for users to make suggestions to the current article. However, I observed that it did not feel very community-like or collaborative. For this reason, I suggest incorporating a visible chat option like Slack, where individuals could form or join group chats and become more inclined to stay committed to this platform. Implementing this visible feature would influence users to remain on the platform through affective, identity-based, and bonds-based commitment. All in all, I would say Wikipedia should take this advice as individuals will gain a visible reason to keep coming back to this platform. In other words, a platform, where they can emotionally connect with others while meeting Wikipedia's mission.
    At last, in using this platform I noted that some users could have malicious or biased intentions in editing these articles while staying anonymous, which gives room for less credibility of the site. With this in mind, I suggest creating a system that gives these articles and authors more credibility while remaining anonymous. In week 5, we learned about anonymity and discussed “what, who, and why” someone would choose to be anonymous online through the Marx Model of Identifiability. In Anonymity: Overview and History, Champion mentioned that some individuals might want to remain anonymous to be free and express themselves. (2022) Going back to this idea of how some individuals join for the wrong intentions we can combat this by designing a system within settings that allows users to be anonymous to others but not to Wikipedia. Overall, this proposal would work by having individuals answer some questions with a list of criteria that confirms the user is credible. This system would work overall, as it would allow newcomers to see more credibility in the writer, which will eventually influence more individuals to come back! 
    Conclusively, adding a Yelp Elite replicate system, a more collaborative feature, and advancing settings to prove writer credibility would allow newcomers to feel more motivated and committed to this platform! In our ever evolving society of technology, these would overall work as humans crave trust and connection, especially feeling like they are being seen!

References:

Champion, K. (2022). Lesson 1: Anonymity: Overview and History. [Video lecture] University of Washington, Online Communities: Course Link: https://uw.hosted.panopto.com/Panopto/Pages/Viewer.aspx?id=62954e6f-b5d5-4a21-bebd-b1550014f5eb

Kraut, R. E., & Resnick, P. (2012). Building successful online communities : Evidence-based social design. MIT Press.

Stone, M. (2014, August 22). Elite Yelpers Hold Immense Power, and They Get Treated like Kings by Bars and Restaurants Trying to Curry Favor. Business Insider. https://www.businessinsider.com/how-to-become-yelp-elite-2014-8