Ways of worldmaking in Wikipedia: reality, legitimacy and collaborative knowledge making

Abstract

The on-going social construction of reality, according to Berger and Luckmann’s classic treatise, entails both an explanation of the social order which ascribes “cognitive validity to its objectivated meanings” and a justification of that order which provides “a normative dignity to its practical imperatives.” The implication is that our knowledge of social reality integrates cognitive facts and normative values to continuously legitimize that reality. We explore this integration of fact and value in an unexpected setting: the “talk pages” of the online encyclopedia Wikipedia in which discussions of article creation are recorded. Our analysis of these discussions draws on Nelson Goodman’s Ways of Worldmaking, another classic on the social construction of reality, which catalogues strategies for producing a worldview. We utilize Goodman’s theories in four cases of Wikipedia article creation – two histories, “Iraq War” and “Afghanistan War,” and two biographies, “George W. Bush” and “Barack Obama” – all of which reveal how knowledge products are created.

La desfachatez intelectual, de Ignacio Sánchez-Cuenca

“…I actualment, aquests discursos s'han difós en la majoria de països a través dels mitjans acadèmics i de les consultories privades internacionals associant la idea de la cultura com a instrument de desenvolupament econòmic i foment de l'emprenedoria, que segons aquesta visió, aporta la creació cultural i artística (Cunningham, 2009) 2 . En relació amb l'emprenedoria, aquesta s'ha convertit en una ideologia omnicomprensiva del sector cultural (Rowan, 2010), que li atribueix un paper instrumental per a tot un sector econòmic o vector econòmic de desenvolupament (les anomenades indústries creatives), desarticulant una mica més l'autonomia de l'esfera artística i convertint-la en una actitud psicològica comuna a una gran diversitat i heterogeneïtat de tasques humanes, al marge de la seva tradició humanística i disciplinària i dominada pels consultors i els think tanks, que al mateix temps la redefineixen (Fullerton i Ettema, 2014). Producte d'això és la confusió entre les polítiques culturals i les de promoció econòmica o de les activitats culturals amb les de capacitació de competències i habilitats (Jones, 2010).…”

El diagnóstico de la crisis de la cultura en España: del recorte público a la crisis sistémica

“…La emprendiduría se ha convertido en una ideología omnicomprensiva del sector cultural (Rowan. 2010), atribuyendo al sector cultural un rol instrumental a todo un sector económico o vector económico de desarrollo (las llamadas industrias creativas), desarticulando un poco más la autonomía de la esfera artística al convertirla en una actitud psicológica común a una gran diversidad y heterogeneidad de tareas humanas, al margen de su tradición humanística y disciplinar y dominada por los consultores y los think tanks que al mismo tiempo la redefinen (Fullerton y Ettema, 2014).…”

“What is, Becomes What is Right”: A Conceptual Framework of Newcomer Legitimacy for Online Discussion Communities

“…These investigations found that describing diagnosis and illness experience was necessary for community membership and legitimacy (Armstrong, Koteyko, & Powell, 2011;Walstrom, 2000). There have also been investigations into legitimacy in Wikipedia and open source communities, which focused on the legitimation of leader behavior (Zhu, Kraut, & Kittur, 2012) and legitimacy and social realities (Fullerton & Ettema, 2014). Although research in these communities has helped theorize legitimacy, there has been less research in other types of online communities where claims to membership may not be as clear-cut.…”

“…Current research on newcomer legitimacy in online communities has often focused on a narrow range of online communities such as illness support communities (McCormack & Coulson, 2009), Wikipedia (Fullerton & Ettema, 2014) and online fan communities (Whiteman, 2009). A broader understanding of newcomer legitimacy behavior in the online space is necessary for wider and improved theoretical and practical outcomes.…”