Submissions/The past, present and future of paid editing on Wikipedia

From Wikimania 2013 • Hong Kong

After careful consideration, the programme committee has decided not to accept the below submission at this time. Thank you to the author(s) for participating in the Wikimania 2013 programme submission, we hope to still see you at Wikimania this August.

Submission no.
3068
Subject no.
C4
Title of the submission
The past, present and future of paid editing on Wikipedia
Type of submission
Presentation
Author of the submission
Dirk Franke
Country of origin
Germany
Affiliation
de.wp
E-mail address
Dirk.Franke@wikipedia.de
Username
Dirk Franke (talk)
Personal homepage or blog
http://grenzenderbezahlung.tumblr.com/
Abstract

Paid editing is the future of Wikipedia. Or, to be more precise, paid editing seems to be an increasing problem the Wikipedia movement has to deal with. Thanks to some kind of German chapter engagement grant I have a year time to look at this topic. Hopefully the community and I will come up with some tools and rules that solve the problems paid Wikipedia editing brings into this world once and for all. I will talk about my experiences, the past, present and future of paid editing and how we can deal with it in a friendly and effective manner.

Detailed proposal

Paid editing is the future of Wikipedia. Or, to be more precise, paid editing seems to be an increasing problem the Wikipedia movement has to deal with. As you can read in the newspapers or observe at your daily dose of Wikipedia editing, the pressure on Wikipedia increases. The number of professional editors who learn how to "play" Wikipedia gets larger. The mechanisms and rules the community has developed to deal with this topic are often contradictory in theory and unpredictable in practice. For example, German Wikipedians basically rely on being unfriendly to anybody accused of paid editing and hoping for the best. This is surprisingly effective, but will it stand the test of time?

Thanks to some kind of German chapter engagement grant I have a year to look at this topic from all perspectives, involve the community, talk to Wikipedians, Wikimedians, Wikipedia edit agencies and maybe even customers.

Basically I try to convince Wikipedians to think about this topic and make up their minds how they want to deal with it. Hopefully they and I will come up with some tools and rules that solve the problems paid Wikipedia editing brings into this world once and for all. Maybe we won't but at least we'll be better informed and better coordinated when we deal with it. Maybe we'll be able to be friendly and effective when dealing with paid editors.

The talk will entail:

  • 2 1/2 minutes about the Community project budget, my position, why I'm here and how this all is organized.
  • 3 minutes about the project, what I did, how it was going, how the community reacted etc.
  • 6 1/2 minutes about the state of paid editing at the German Wikipedia. What is allowed, what is possible, how does it work out in real wiki life.
  • 3 minutes about thoughts for the future
  • 10 minutes of discussion. I hope for some tears, hugs, brilliant ideas and some kind of common chant in the end.
Track
  • WikiCulture and Community
Length of presentation/talk
25 Minutes
Language of presentation/talk
English
Will you attend Wikimania if your submission is not accepted?
Yes
Slides or further information (optional)
Special requests


Interested attendees

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  1. --Pgallert (talk) 10:11, 23 April 2013 (UTC)[reply]
  2. Blue Rasberry (talk) 17:39, 30 April 2013 (UTC)[reply]
  3. Unfortunately, I will not be attending Wikimania this year, but I would certainly attend this presentation if I were. Best of luck! --Another Believer (talk) 19:50, 1 May 2013 (UTC)[reply]
  4. GastelEtzwane (talk) 15:48, 4 May 2013 (UTC) How about paying recruiters of new active editors (like a Tupperware party)?[reply]
  5. -- Marcus Cyron (talk) 16:45, 6 May 2013 (UTC)[reply]
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