Wayback Machine
Hill, B. M. Almost Wikipedia: Eight Early Encyclopedia Projects and the Mechanisms of Collective Action. [1]
Abstract: Before Wikipedia was created in January 2001, there were seven attempts to create English-language online collaborative encyclopedia projects. Several of these attempts built sus- tainable communities of volunteer contributors but none achieved anything near Wikipedia’s success. Why did Wikipedia, superficially similar and a relatively late entrant, attract a commu- nity of millions and build the largest and most comprehensive compendium of human knowl- edge in history? Using data from interviews of these Wikipedia-like projects’ initiators and extensive archival data, I suggest three propositions for why Wikipedia succeeded in mobilizing volunteers where these other projects failed. I also present disconfirming evidence for two im- portant alternative explanations. Synthesizing these results, I suggest that Wikipedia succeeded because its stated goal hewed closely to a widely shared concept of “encyclopedia” familiar to many potential contributors, while innovating around the process and the social organization of production.
Propositions
- Wikipedia attracted contributors because it was built around a familiar product.
- Wikipedia attracted contributors because it offered low barriers to contribution.
- Wikipedia attracted contributors because it offered low attribution and low social ownership of content.
Method
- Multiple case study Analysis, interviews, digital content analysis
Discipline
Data
- Interviews and historical records on 8 failed wikipedia projects (founders and users) to interrogate incentives for participation
Interventions-Response
- Welfare can be promoted by flexible legal frameworks that allow the combination of product familiarity and innovative structures of organisation.