[WikiEN-l] Community vs Encyclopedia

Sat Jun 3 15:33:15 UTC 2006

None of them are in my mind completely correct -- the two are
thoroughly inseparable in this case, for the Wikipedia is *both* an
encyclopedia and a community. The community makes the encyclopedia,
the encyclopedia is the site of the community, and the whole things is
a giant loop of action and reaction.

That being said, there is good rhetorical sense in saying the
encyclopedia is primary. The goal of such a statement is to make sure
people stay on topic and hopefully consider all of their actions in
respect to the encyclopedia. Amen to that. The goal in the end though
is still to make sure that people don't make the error of trying to
separate them -- to remove the encyclopedia from the equation.

But realistically we have to keep in mind that the two cannot be
easily separated at any point in it. I should think at this point this
should be very clear -- things which become extremely detrimental to
the community are also detrimental to the encyclopedia, and vice
versa.

FF

On 6/3/06, Joe Anderson <computerjoe.mailinglist at googlemail.com> wrote:
> I've spotted many more organisations are sprining up; the majority either
> useless or clones of the CVU or Esperanza.
>
> I made Community Justice, which I think failed, to be honest. CJ aimed to
> improve the encyclopedia through more civil (and hence faster and less
> damaging) disputes.
>
> However, four different viewpoints of the Wikipedia have emerged recently:
>
>    - It is an encyclopedia with a community
>    - It is a community with an encyclopedia
>    - It is an encyclopedia
>    - It is a community
>
> I agree with the first, though many users agree with the second and some the
> third and fourth.
>
> With Web 2.0, I see the Wikipedia becoming more and more like a social
> networking site, which is sad.
>
> There needs to be some way to remind users it's an encyclopedia - perhaps a
> community organisation reminding people to edit the enyclopedia
> (Wikipedia:Community Encouraging the Community to Expand the Encyclopedia
> over the Community, Though That Sounds Ironic). (humour :P )
>
> --
> Joe Anderson
>
> [[User:Computerjoe]] on en, fr, de, simple, Meta and Commons.
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