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==Demographics== |
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The number of [[WP:WHY|named accounts]] is currently '''{{NUMBEROFUSERS}}'''. |
The number of [[WP:WHY|named accounts]] is currently '''{{NUMBEROFUSERS}}'''. Most account holders are not regular contributors, however. An unknown but relatively large number of [[Wikipedia:IPs are human too|unregistered Wikipedians]] also contribute to the site. Detailed statistical information about Wikipedia is available at [[Wikipedia:Statistics]]. |
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Information about individual Wikipedians is available on the [[Wikipedia:User page|user pages]] of Wikipedians who choose to create them. |
Information about individual Wikipedians is available on the [[Wikipedia:User page|user pages]] of Wikipedians who choose to create them. |
Revision as of 02:42, 11 February 2011
Wikipedians are people who write and edit the pages for Wikipedia unlike readers who simply read the articles. Anyone can be a Wikipedian — including you. Just click the edit link at the top of any page, or at the beginning of each section. Visit the editing tutorial to learn more. You can browse or search the full user list, or request a random Wikipedian's user page.
Demographics
The number of named accounts is currently 47,694,892. Most account holders are not regular contributors, however. An unknown but relatively large number of unregistered Wikipedians also contribute to the site. Detailed statistical information about Wikipedia is available at Wikipedia:Statistics.
Information about individual Wikipedians is available on the user pages of Wikipedians who choose to create them.
About 250,000 new accounts are created every month, and these numbers are growing. About 300,000 editors have edited Wikipedia more than 10 times. Approximately the same number, 300,000 editors, edit Wikipedia every month; out of those, about 50,000 do more than 5 edits and 5,000, more than 100 edits. The Wikipedians with the 4,000 highest edit counts are listed here.
Personality
Researchers around the world have begun to identify key personality traits in Wikipedians. According to a study published in 2008, Wikipedia members are more likely than non-members to locate their 'real me' online—that is, to feel more comfortable expressing their “real” selves online than off.[1] This corresponds with more general findings that Internet communities tend to attract users who are introverted offline but more able to open up and feel empowered on the Web.[2][3] However, a gender difference was found in terms of extroversion: Whereas female Wikipedia members were on average more introverted than female non-members, male members were just as extroverted as males in the control group.[4]
Wikipedians have also been found to be less agreeable, less open, and less conscientious, as defined by psychology’s Big Five personality traits.[5] Studies have shown that lower agreeableness and openness are correlated with egocentric behaviors such as self-confidence building, which may relate to more recent findings on Wikipedians’ motivations for contributing (see below to find out).
Motivations for contributing
A 2010 study found that although members may initially contribute to the site for pleasure, they are motivated primarily by an internal drive to feel efficacious and self-confident.[6] Surprisingly, aside from potentially fueling a first-time contribution, enjoyment was found to have no significant impact on knowledge sharing behavior in Wikipedia. And while Barnstar awards are given to Wikipedians to signify achievement in helping with a task, it was found that Wikipedians are not primarily motivated by recognition or reputation.[7] Only the internal drive to build confidence in one’s knowledge was found to be a key motivator.
To further understand what makes contributors tick, researchers are planning new studies, including interviews with Wikipedians.
Nomenclature
It has been suggested that Wikipedist would be a more appropriate name, as an encyclopedist is someone who contributes to an encyclopedia. "Wikipedian", though, suggests being part of a group, community or demonym. So in this sense, Wikipedians are people who form The Wikipedia Community.
Contribution styles
Some Wikipedians welcome newcomers; some Wikipedians award those who they feel deserve awards. Some upload images; some work on history articles; some clean up grammar; and still others work on reverting vandalism. Many take on all of these tasks. Whatever one decides to do, every Wikipedian is presumed valuable.
Wikipedians have different characteristics on many aspects, of which boldness is one: On one hand there are 1RRs (Wikipedia:1RR), who rather discuss than engage in edit wars. On the other, there are bold ones (Wikipedia:Be bold), who are doers rather than discussers.
In addition, there are Wikipedians who contribute mainly by writing and editing the contents of Wikipedia, and there are those who contribute to Wikipedia's administration or provide access to it for every single person on the planet.
Furthermore, a multitude of views and other contribution characteristics are represented well by common Wikipedia-related userboxes: Wikipedia:Userboxes/Wikipedia.
See also
- Meta-Wiki
- Categorisation
- Category:Wikipedians – for more information about Wikipedians
- Wikipedia:User categories – for information about Wikipedian categories
- Wikipedia:User categorisation – a defunct WikiProject for user categorisation
- Other
- Wikipedia:Facebook – for pictures of Wikipedians
- Wikipedia:Wikipedians with articles – for Wikipedians who are themselves notable
- Wikipedia:Missing Wikipedians
- Wikipedia:Deceased Wikipedians
References
- ^ Amichai-Hamburger, Y. et al. “Personality Characteristics of Wikipedia Members.” CyberPsychology & Behavior, Vol. 11, No. 6 (2008).
- ^ Amichai-Hamburger, Y., Wainapel G., Fox S. “On the Internet no one knows I’m an introvert: extroversion, neuroticism and Internet interaction.” CyberPsychology & Behavior (2002).
- ^ Amichai-Hamburger, Y., McKenna, K., Tal, S. “E-empowerment: Empowerment by the Internet.” Computers in Human Behavior, Vol. 24 (2008).
- ^ Amichai-Hamburger, 2008.
- ^ ibid
- ^ Yang, H. and Lai, C. “Motivations of Wikipedia content contributors.” Computers in Human Behavior, Vol. 26 (2010).
- ^ ibid