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• 1 media/IoT-recap.jpg media/DS.jpg 2017-12-12T05:55:07+00:00 Wikipedia Theory 42 image_header 2017-12-19T04:53:27+00:00 In regards to the Wikipedia project, my class read a selection of essays that discussed the various core ideas behind the structure of Wikipedia. One of the main ideas that the scholars all touched on is the concept of collective intelligence, and how it emerges when communities form. The basic premise of collective intelligence, also known as collective wisdom, is the theory that groups of people garner more knowledge rather than one individual-- at least in some situations. Wikipedia is built on the theory of collective intelligence. Unlike other websites, Wikipedia sees their users as potential contributors who can help Wikipedia grow as a community and resource. According to James Surowiecki, author of The Wisdom of the Crowd, “in order for a group to be smart, you need two things.. [the first is] diversity of opinion.” Many Wikipedia users have diverse backgrounds in culture, education, and all other social aspects that influence their beliefs and ideas, which lead to conversations on how to approach certain Wikipedia pages. Albeit, sometimes these conversations lead to varying results. Surowiecki continues to say, “the second thing you need is for people to be relatively independent of each other.” While Wikipedia is a collaborative space, everyone still has the privilege to instill their own individuality. Users are able to choose which pages they want to contribute to, and how much they are willing to add to it.
  
  However, due to the size of the Wikipedia community, it may seem difficult to build connections with other users. In Clay Shirky’s article, Communities, Audiences, and Scale, he states, “the larger a group held together by communication grows, the more it must become like an audience.” The main difference between a community and an audience is how the message is delivered; in an audience, it is a one-to-many ratio, while in a community it is a many-to-many ratio. Which implies that audiences are much larger than communities. Especially in a realm as big as Wikipedia, the idea of a one-to-many audience system seems like the best solution to address users. Yet, Wikipedia tackles this by introducing the talk page and sandbox functions. These functions help develop smaller communities within the larger audience by letting other users communicate through these modems. These functions help lessen the divide between users and creates a more direct way for connections to form; if the user chooses to do so.