I am a freelance writer working on an article about the wide array of people who make Wikipedia their life, their passion, their pastime. Wikipedia “addicts” if you will. I’m looking for people willing to tell their story of how they got sucked into the intellectual whirlwind that is Wikipedia; how you got started editing, how the obsession grew, and what you spend your time focusing on these days? Do you write articles from scratch? Is your main push toward one particular type of article? Do you patrol for typos and errors, or spend your time diligently fixing vandalism? Do you take part in the “social aspects” of Wikipedia; engaging in animated discussions or decorating your user page with all sorts of internet memes? Have you ever forced yourself to take a “Wikipedia break”? If so, what’s your 20/20 hindsight on the obsession? Basically I’m just trying to get an idea of what it’s like for various Wikipedia “addicts.” If you are interested in participating, please email me
This article is intended to be a light informational piece, nothing too heavy or controversial, just merely introducing readers to a subculture that they likely had no idea existed. So please don’t email me with your conspiracy theories, or your grudge against the Wikipedia hierarchy… unless it directly applies to your overall experience with the site. This article is about the USERS, not about the pros and cons of the site itself.
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editUPDATE: 11/27/06
After a bumpy start (check out my user talk page) I've actually been getting a lot of good responses, both from people who take part in the various "social aspects" of the site, as well as from people who are simply hardcore editors and consider most of the social interaction outside of collaborating on article to be anti-effective to the objective of the site.
I would still like to hear from anybody who has been involved in the Adopt-a-User program (whether as the adoptOR or the adoptEE). Also, I'd like to speak to anybody who has been involved in any heavy collaborative efforts with other editors on specific articles - or who have been heavily involved with a Wiki collaboration project. I'd like to get some thoughts on what that process is like.
Thanks to everybody who has been so helpful thus far.
FFFearlesss 01:07, 28 November 2006 (UTC)
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editUPDATE 12/3/06
The article is coming along nicely. All the various aspects of the site are segue-ing nicely into each other for a good flowing narrative and discussion. I plan on sending emails to any user whose quotes I used for their approval within the next couple of days. And when the final draft of the piece is done, I will email a copy of it to anybody who participated, with the strictest of promises that you will not republish it on your user page or anywhere else until after it has appeared in print.
Thanks again to all who took the time to tell me their wiki-stories. It has been really hard trying to narrow down what to use and who to quote as so many people had such intriguing and insightful things to say. I truly hope this article opens up the eyes to more people about the great work going on here at Wikipedia.
-Brian FFFearlesss 22:29, 3 December 2006 (UTC)
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editUPDATE 12/11/06
Well the article is complete and I have already started submitting it. I will keep everyone posted on where and when it ends up running. I have sent copies of the completed article to everyone who particpated in the interview process, under the strict understanding that it not be redistributed or reposted until after the article has been published. So far the feedback from Wikipedians has been good and even full of truly constructive criticism (which I expected no less of from the folks here :-) ).
Thanks again everyone for your help and guidance on this article. I hope this piece ends up drawing more committed people to the cause.
-Brian FFFearlesss 17:40, 11 December 2006 (UTC)