W7.1 April 15 (Mon) ——CHENG SHIYI

1.Summary

 Good Faith Collaboration: The Culture of Wikipedia is a 2010 book by Joseph M. Reagle Jr. that deals with the topic of Wikipedia and the Wikipedia community. The book focuses on shedding light on the history, real life, and cultural characteristics of Wikipedia, including other aspects of consensus formation and collaborative practices. The book is also widely regarded as a groundbreaking ethnographic study of Wikipedia's culture.Reagle makes the central argument that "Wikipedia's success does not lie solely in its technicalities, but more importantly comes from the influence of the Wikipedia community and its cultural norms." This is to emphasize the importance of Wikipedia's collaborative, open, and well-intentioned cultural climate to Wikipedia's operations and development.

 The history of the book's publication and the reception it has received reflect the impact it has also had in academia and society.

 Reagle is a scholar of the sociology of the Internet and a Wikipedia volunteer. In this book, Reagle demonstrates an in-depth study and understanding of Wikipedia.Reagle skillfully utilizes documents produced by the Wikipedia community, such as content pages, discussion pages, mailing lists, and more, which demonstrates a deep knowledge and respect for the subjects of his research.

 The book is divided into eight chapters and opens with a preface by Lawrence Lessig. The first chapter introduces the author's methodology, starting with "Nazis and Norms," the theme of the book. This is followed by a study of the history of encyclopedias and communities and an analysis of how Wikipedia has succeeded in achieving its intended purpose, with a particular emphasis on the concepts of "honest cooperation" and "the openness enigma", which provide a variety of ways in which we can understand Wikipedia's success. The subsequent chapters focus on Wikipedia. Subsequent chapters focus on the decision-making process within Wikipedia, analyzing and exploring the nature of consensus decision-making and the role of project co-founder Jimbo Wales. At the same time, Reagle does not shy away from criticism and controversy about Wikipedia, and he objectively analyzes the popularity of Wikipedia and the critical discussions it has received.

 The book has received a great deal of attention and acclaim both in academia and in the community. Many reviewers have praised the book's in-depth description of how Wikipedia works. They believe that the book offers a unique perspective on Wikipedia that has had a great impact in academic research and social practice. So not only does the book provide valuable insights into our understanding of open content communities and online ethnographies, it also points the way to the development and future of Wikipedia's projects. In today's information age, we need more authors like this book to help us understand and address the challenges of the online world.

2.Interesting Point

“Mayo Fuster Morell, in her 2013 review in the Information, Communication & Society, commended Reagle's book for pioneering the study of Wikipedia using an ethnographic approach, "particularly in terms of its cultural and historical specificity".”This points to the book's pioneering use of ethnographic methods for Wikipedia research. Ethnographic methods are commonly used to study the culture and practices of small communities or specific groups of people, but applying such methods to the study of a large-scale online collaborative encyclopedia such as Wikipedia may be an interesting and bold challenge in academia.

3.Discussion

Jeff Loughran points out the book's shortcomings in terms of "historical contextualization". So how can we better balance historical contextualization and future exploration of an evolving project like Wikipedia?