[WikiEN-l] Re: Wired News reporter would like to interview you

Sat Mar 5 04:24:14 UTC 2005

Daniel, Here are my answers. Do you mind if I forward this to the Wiki
email list?

Stacey

On Fri, 4 Mar 2005 17:36:05 -0800, Daniel Terdiman
<daniel.terdiman at earthlink.net> wrote:
> Great. Thanks a lot. I really appreciate it.
> 
> Here's the questions, then. Please answer them with as much information
> as you can. The more detail the better. And, as I mentioned, if you
> could get those answers back to me tonight, it would be a huge help.
> 
> Thanks again,
> Daniel
> 
> - During the last 30 days, you've been one of the most active
> Wikipedians, editing more than 1800 articles. Can you tell me what has
> driven you to be so active recently?

Well, it isn't quite so true that I've done 1800 in the past month.
That sounds like the number of edits I did back in December, which was
the last time those stats were updated. My company closes down the
site I work at for the week between Christmas and New Year's, so I had
quite a bit of extra time on my hands. With that time I made a big
push to translate many of the German language articles on Primates to
English (via various online translation tools). I've only done 700 or
so edits in the past 30 days, according to my "user contributions"
list.

I suppose knowing that the 1800 number was wrong says more about me
than the fact that I editted 1800 during some 30 day period.  Any of
these numbers are misleading, though, as they only say that I made
some kind of edit; it doesn't differentiate whether the edit was a
significant contribution, a minor correction in an article I have on
my watch list, or a reversion of vandalism. A significant portion of
my edits are either adding or (more typically) removing a "category"
tag, or making some other minor edit that is general not very
significant to the article itself. "Category" tags are a relatively
recent feture to MediaWiki. Some users have gone way overboard with
their use, while a number of us have a more moderate approach,
structuring the categories into subcategories, eliminating the need to
have several dozen categories on a single article.

> - You're also one of the most active overall, and I guess I'm curious
> you think what being so involved in editing Wikipedia articles says
> about you.

For one thing, I care a great deal about the Wikipedia project itself.
In many ways it represents the best of the possibilities in the
post-hacker-manifesto world. I'd guess that a number of Wikipedians
grew up after or came of age around the time of the hacker manifesto,
and the concept of "freedom to do as we please" has finally begun its
maturation to "responsible to do what we need".

That responsibility means doing what we can, given ones interests and
energy. For me, that means being active in the creation and management
of some kinds of articles, and being responsible for various other
aspects of the general improvement of the entire project.

> - What's it like to be fairly close to the top of the list of most
> prolific Wikipedians?

I'm rather proud of my placement in the list. I'd actually thought I
was much further down the list, both in overall and the monthly
statistics. However, I know some of the folks I expected to be above
me in the listings have moved on to more beaureaucratic roles,
something very needed as Wikipedia grows.

> - Your profile says you like to fix things, such as out of order books
> in bookstores or articles in Wikipedia that need fixing. Where does
> that come from? How long has that been an attribute of your
> personality?

In part it's out of frustration trying to find a book (or whatever)
that I'm looking for. I worked in a library when I was in high school,
and then again to help pay for college, so I'm sure that has had an
influence on my books-out-of-order frustrations. But also, I can't
understand why people would take a book off the shelf to see if they
like it, and then put it back in the wrong place. It seems simple
enough to me to put it back in the right place.

> - You also have a fairly broad cross-section of interests, at least as
> revealed by your profile. What would you say are the two or three
> topics you most frequently are working on in Wikipedia?

As far as new article creation and growth, I'd have to say my
interests lie primarily in primates and cephalopods. I've spent a good
deal of time researching primates and cephalopods for Wikipedia,
including buying a number of books that are geared more towards
college degree programs than as encyclopedia source material. I've
also recently gotten involved in working on NYC subway related
articles.

> - Clearly, Wikipedia has given you a forum for helping to ensure that
> things are the way you would like them to be. But what would you do if
> Wikipedia went away?

I'd find other hobbies that I enjoy. And Wikipedia isn't the only
hobby I have now anyway. I enjoy hiking through the many parks and
forests near where I live, I enjoy going into the city for museums and
shows, and I have an active religious life, too.

> On Mar 4, 2005, at 5:20 PM, Stacey Greenstein wrote:
> 
> > Yes, I can do that.
> >
> >
> > On Fri, 4 Mar 2005 17:07:19 -0800, Daniel Terdiman
> > <daniel.terdiman at earthlink.net> wrote:
> >> Hi...If I sent you some email questions, would you have time to answer
> >> them this evening? Only because my story is due Monday.
> >>
> >> Thanks,
> >> Daniel
> >> On Mar 4, 2005, at 5:05 PM, Stacey Greenstein wrote:
> >>
> >>> Very cool! Unfortunately your email to me was delayed and I've just
> >>> now received it. I'll be out of town tomorrow so I won't be around
> >>> for
> >>> an interview, but I'd love to chat with you sometime next week.
> >>>
> >>> Stacey Greenstein
> >>> AIM: UtherSRG
> >>> Yahoo: stacey_hare
> >>>
> >>>
> >>> On Fri, 4 Mar 2005 19:49:41 GMT, WiredGuy
> >>> <daniel.terdiman at earthlink.net> wrote:
> >>>> Hi, there...
> >>>>
> >>>> My name is Daniel Terdiman. I'm a reporter with Wired News
> >>>> (wired.com).
> >>>>
> >>>> I'm doing a story that will present a series of small profiles of
> >>>> Wikipedia's top posters. So, I thought it would be interesting to
> >>>> talk to you for the story.
> >>>>
> >>>> I wonder if you might have any time to talk or answer some email
> >>>> questions sometime today or tomorrow?
> >>>>
> >>>> Thanks a lot.
> >>>>
> >>>> Daniel Terdiman
> >>>> Wired News
> >>>> daniel.terdiman at earthlink.net
> >>>> 415.647.7166
> >>>> AIM: Daniel Terdiman
> >>>>
> >>>
> >>
> >>
> >
> 
>