Wikipedians Are Born, Not Made: A Study of Power Editors on Wikipedia

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dc.contributor.authorPanciera, Katherine
dc.contributor.authorHalfaker, Aaron
dc.contributor.authorTerveen, Loren
dc.date.accessioned2023-06-08T11:44:33Z
dc.date.available2023-06-08T11:44:33Z
dc.date.issued2009
dc.description.abstractOpen content web sites depend on users to produce information of value. Wikipedia is the largest and most well-known such site. Previous work has shown that a small fraction of editors --Wikipedians -- do most of the work and produce most of the value. Other work has offered conjectures about how Wikipedians differ from other editors and how Wikipedians change over time. We quantify and test these conjectures. Our key findings include: Wikipedians' edits last longer; Wikipedians invoke community norms more often to justify their edits; on many dimensions of activity, Wikipedians start intensely, tail off a little, then maintain a relatively high level of activity over the course of their career. Finally, we show that the amount of work done by Wikipedians and non-Wikipedians differs significantly from their very first day. Our results suggest a design opportunity: customizing the initial user experience to improve retention and channel new users' intense energy.en
dc.identifier.doi10.1145/1531674.1531682
dc.identifier.urihttps://dl.eusset.eu/handle/20.500.12015/4908
dc.language.isoen
dc.publisherAssociation for Computing Machinery
dc.relation.ispartofProceedings of the 2009 ACM International Conference on Supporting Group Work
dc.subjectwiki
dc.subjectWikipedia
dc.subjectpower editors
dc.subjectcontribution
dc.subjectcollaboration
dc.titleWikipedians Are Born, Not Made: A Study of Power Editors on Wikipediaen
gi.citation.publisherPlaceNew York, NY, USA
gi.citation.startPage51–60
gi.conference.locationSanibel Island, Florida, USA

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