Wikipedia’s Editor Problem Explained

The crowdsourced encyclopedia now has 31,000 active editors, down from 51,000 in 2007.

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Wikipedia’s declining number of contributors isn’t news–founder Jimmy Wales acknowledged it the issue years ago–but MIT Technology Review’s thorough examination of the online encyclopedia’s challenges is worth reading:

The main source of those problems is not mysterious. The loose collective running the site today, estimated to be 90 percent male, operates a crushing bureaucracy with an often abrasive atmosphere that deters newcomers who might increase participation in Wikipedia and broaden its coverage.

The story has a few examples of how Wikimedia Foundation has struggled to change the culture, but this one is particularly striking:

In July 2012, some editors started a page called WikiProject Editor Retention with the idea of creating a place to brainstorm ideas about helping newcomers and fostering a friendlier atmosphere. Today the most vibrant parts of that project’s discussion page have gripes about “bullying done by administrators,” debates over whether “Wikipedia has become a bloody madhouse,” and disputes featuring accusations such as “You registered an account today just to have a go at me?”

While the story says Wikimedia Foundation is staging “a kind of rescue mission” to attract more contributors, the current efforts are minor things like a Thank button to encourage good edits.

All of this stems from Wikipedia’s core conflict of discouraging exploitation and vandalism while making it easier for anyone to contribute. And the former isn’t getting any easier; just this week, Wikipedia editors removed 250 accounts tied to a PR firm that offered “page management” services.

[MIT Technology Review]