Why Wikipedia Works

While the creation of Wikipedia generated rapid growth due to the limitless opportunity for anyone to start a new article or edit an existing one at no cost, it also led to the creation of inaccurate and unreliable articles that did not meet established standards. Primarily, the website works well due to the obvious reason that enormous amounts of information may be easily found online for free. Thus, there is little cost to the consumer to find data about a particular topic of interest. Additionally, this platform quickly attracts a large consumer base forming a community- like atmosphere able to produce high traffic levels due to both word of mouth and to a high level of consumer involvement; offering millions of articles, photographs, and links to other websites in over 250 languages.

The website actually generates good content, as depicted by a study comparing the accuracy of science entries in Wikipedia and the online version of Encyclopedia Britannica, due mainly to its organized communication ability and perhaps most importantly its dedicated “Wikipedians” desire for empowerment and equality through the use of the “articles-for-deletion” process. Wikipedia enhanced its data collection by implementing changes when needed. When a biography remained uncorrected for over 4 months, the site made it possible for anonymous or newly registered users to create new pages and made it easier to track pages devoted to living persons. Additionally, Wikipedia created a set of specialized roles for registered users to maintain a sense of organization. Administrators, Bureaucrats, and Stewards obtained unique levels of privileges and were seen as having respect and familiarity with the Wikipedia policy as well as were known and trusted members of the community. These titles allowed these consumers to protect or deleted pages and promote or demote other users.

The supplied discussion page is used by Wikipedians to debate and eventually agree upon the appropriate content and structure of each article. Groups formed with similar beliefs, such as, “Inclusionists” and “Deletionists” and resulted in highly interactive discussions centered on the perfect combination between a specific page’s quality, quantity, and comprehension. As exemplified by the deletion debate over the Enterprise 2.0 article, numerous controversies and challenges arose, perhaps leading to an increased opportunity for a highly productive and highly collaborative environment by both utilizing the practices of knowledge and the visibility of outputs. Ultimately, the Wikipedia community sustains the interest and content for the website and without it there would be no Wikipedia!