The Collaborative Construction of "Fact" on Wikipedia

The Collaborative Construction of "Fact" on Wikipedia - scientific work related to Wikipedia quality published in 2009, written by Jason Swarts.

Overview

For years Wikipedia has come to symbolize the potential of Web 2.0 for harnessing the power of mass collaboration and collective intelligence. As wikis continue to develop and move into streams of cultural, social, academic, and enterprise work activity, it is appropriate to consider how collective intelligence emerges from mass collaboration. Collective intelligence can take many forms - this paper examines one, the emergence of stable facts on Wikipedia. More specifically, this paper examines ways of participating that lead to the creation of facts. This research will show how authors can be more effective consumers, producers, and managers of wiki information by understanding how collaboration shapes facts.