How do Wikipedians form consensus?

Wikipedians use various tools to help one another gather their knowledge of an object, subject or issue and mesh together the information to provide one full entry. Without these tools, contributing to Wikipedia would become more difficult, because of lack of organisation.

When an individual wishes to contribute to an entry, they can simply select the edit button above the article and begin to add, submit or alter slighty any content they believed should be altered. However, this can become troublesome if a person does not know previous edits to the pages, which could mean that their content is removed cause it already was posted and removed before.

This is one of the reasons that Wikipedia provides users with a discussion board and edit history on every entry. When a user wishes to edit an article, they are able to enter the discussion board to view what people have done, what people believe should be included, what members need to find (such as an image or more information on a specific topic) and anything that should be discussed before being submitted into the entry. The edit history also permits others to view previous edits and compare older entries to view how the entry has evolved and also gain insight into any content that is removed numerous times .

With tools like these in place, contributors are able to organise their information and gain a better knowledge of previous activities that have done on before for entries.

How do communities evaluate quality?

Many online communities use various tools to judge the quality of content uploaded to their site. The main source of evalution are approvals of the content by mass users, due to the similiar interests a community holds, therefore usually liking the same material. However, communal evaluation does not work in communities where a broad audience is catered for, though there are online societies which have implemented tools to help in finding quality or interesting material.

Most websites provide a system that allow users to rate content using a star or 'like it/don't like it' system. People can find this when using YouTube to find specific clips. After a search, YouTube will provide an array of clips believed to relate to the content searched for. Users usually select video clips that have a high star rating, because the youtube community has already voted that this video is worth watching. The star system is often used on internet to evaluate the quality of content.

Other systems involve a scale, such as those used in Newgrounds for finding the most popular games, toons and movies submitted by the community. Information aggregator Digg uses the 'share' and 'bury' options for its members to choose between and Current TV to select between 'like' or 'nope' to let the the most interesting stories rise to the top to be broadcast. All of these use a rating system to help find the content that a lot of users wish to view and others that take little interest. The main condition for a system like this is that there is a large enough community to represent fairer evaluations of the content in use. While this system could be manipulated as well, it usually works well in finding content on websites because of this extensive approval process.

The Rise of the Opinion

Where ever there is a news story, there are always multiple opinions on the issues raised from the article. Individuals often forge judgment on beliefs and knowledge they have previously obtained, however numerous opinions are unheard, due to the lack of connection between others and traditional media usually presenting the majority view to the public. If minority opinions wish to have their beliefs voiced, there is a long process of publishing and distributing it to the mass audiences, which still may not help their message be well received. The online environment however, has changed these inconveniences to accommodate for multiple views to be posted easily and not be marginalised. This can be seen in the online community DeviantART, where art related events can cause a huge stir and cause members express their opinions on the subject.

A recent example of this was the communities’ reaction to a new law that may be implemented this year. The Shawn Bentley Orphan Works Act of 2008 makes two significant changes for the online art environment. Firstly, individuals who locate an artwork online but are unable to find the artist’s signature or an author on the website it originates from are permitted to use it because it is considered an ‘orphaned work’. Secondly, the bill considers a database of electronic artworks that artists must register for to have their works copyrighted with a fee, unlike the current system where art is automatically covered by copyright as soon as it is created online. In the DeviantART community, this caused many artists to post News articles or express their opinions in their individual journals. Multiple opinions emerged from this outcry, most being against this bill because it allowed persons to use their artworks without permission if they did not register their artworks to be copyrighted. Others viewed this concern over the bill as unneeded because there were no official sources that could be confirm the bill existing as the current time. There is also another opinion that artists would benefit from such a law if it was passed. This event demonstrates how the online environment permits self-expression of particular views, inhibiting no perspectives on topics, allowing others to form their opinions on the issue as they please.

A similar incident on DeviantART occurred when a co-founder of the community, jark , was removed from the main administration team in the community. Many members of the website were shocked at the sudden termination, due to his large involvement with the community on a daily basis. Both sides submitted articles on the events that occurred and an outcry was heard from the community being unhappy with the results of these events. Many posted in their journals to support jark, which were heard by the administration team. Members also expressed their views in other ways, not only writing about their discontent with jark’s departure from the team, but many also changed their avatars to include yellow bands or an alien symbol (jark’s avatar being a yellow alien). This visually represented their beliefs to other artists, who were encouraged to submit yellow artworks or no art on the 5^th Birthday of the online community to present their unhappiness to the DeviantART team. This incident presents how the community was able to convey their opinions, and demonstrates how opinions were not silenced by those who would wish their views were not heard.

The online environment allows opinions and perspectives to be heard where they would otherwise be marginalised to suit those who publish media traditionally. From this, multiple opinions can arise and show the diversity of views within a community on a particular topic. Contributors are also consented to communicate their dislikes to others even though that may not be in the favour of others who moderate community activities. The internet is a medium where voices are heard and treated equally, providing new insight into the true range of feelings that people have about particular issues affecting their society.

How does open source work (as an example of community produsage) different from commercial production?

Open source software develpment releases the hold that companies have over their products. Open source can be seen an example of produsage in how it incorporate its community to become involved with its projects to improve the service it provides for the benefit of all.

Source code was originally shared amongst programmers in the beginning of computer technology, however, as the computer evolved into a personal home item, corporations began to conceal their work from others, in turn not allowing others to offer their knowledge to their projects. This causes problems in a variety of ways. With a corporate identity, goals are mainly towards releasing a final product, which in most cases, it used for three to five years before being replaced by a revised version. During this time, multiple problems and dislikes can emerge, however usually users are unable to change these because of accessibility constraits and usually unable to contact the creators about their suggested improvements.

Open source software development has been described as "development method for software that harnesses the power of distributed peer review and transparency of process" and works on a different model to that of software production. Participants of any nature are able to contribute to the project due to the reliance on the community to improve the service. Those involed release any reservations on their work, instead sharing it with others to seek opinions and ask for help on queries. In this scenario, revisions are constantly being made on content to make it better and benefit the community intentions. Since this leads to projects being never entirely completed, updates are often sent out to users so that they are able to have any complications resolved and always providing users with the latest revisions of the service. Any problems that do arise are able to be addressed straight away by the community to prevent others from having the same problems.

What are the differences between commercial production and community produsage?

There are various differences that can be found between these two methods of creating content.

Production can be defined as "the creation of value or wealth by producing goods and services", where companies will create a product, that can usually be consumed by the public, from raw materials. These products are usually considered the 'final product', for once they are given to the mass audiences they are no longer able to be altered until the next revision of that product is released, which can be some time. The creation of products to the end user is a linear process, beginning at the producers, before being given to distributors to give to the public. End users usually have little contact with producers and therefore can't suggest improvements back to the producer. Products also have an finite supply, therefore once a product is bought, that specific product is no longer available to others, meaning they have to find another copy of the same product.

Produsage is a term to describe a new development in content creation, with a working definition of being "the collaborative and continuous building and extending of existing content in pursuit of further improvement". Produsage can be seen in the online environment amongst communities, who provide services where participants are permited to reuse and remix previous content. In this model, there is linear process that content goes through, instead content is available to all to view share. If users believe there are problems or difficulties with the content, they are then able to contribute their knowledge or opinion into it to improve it for the benefit of the community.

It is unknown where the community produsage will lead us in the future, however with the trends of making content more available online and traditional media creating digital counterparts of their products, there may be a rise in the use of produsage in the future.

Artistic collaboration in the online environment

The capability to create and share art practises on the internet has allowed creative talent to prosper in the online setting. Artists are now able to share their work with an international audience which would not have been capable before. Abilities which would have failed to gain interest before are now found anew through the communities which gather around these interests. Online artists in particular now have the ability to collaborate with others more regularly then they were previously able to because of the convenient nature of the internet. Other projects have taken this to another level in creating wide community led collaborations in the name of art.

A community which is built upon large artistic collaborations is SITO and their synergy projects. SITO has 11 projects in all which encourage artists to contribute to the overall outcome of an artistic result, some of which are continually being worked on despite their long running period. It’s interesting to note that this art community began during the 90s, the oldest projects beginning around 1993, showing that artistic collaboration online is not a new movement.


One of the initial projects that later evolved into their latest collaborative works was Grid. These first works were pieced together while communicating over IRC and email to reach the final art piece. To begin, an artist provided a small square image which was placed within the centre of the work. Other artists then built upon the original image by submitting their own works to be placedon the sides, having them blend in to give a flow across the various images. The final result were collaborative works displaying the different techniques of the various contributors while also producing a collaborative style which can be found in the projects following the first collaboration.

Another project running is the HyGrid, which works in a very similar fashion to the original Grids. A user submits the “seed” image before other participants reserve spaces surrounding it to upload their own images which assemble depending on the content of the original square. The main difference between these and Grid are that there is a more rapid response to reserving and submitting images due to greater advances in internet technology.Previously, this would’ve proven difficult when only using email and IRC, as well as being closed off from others who may have wished to join in the activity.

The most popular of the projects on the SITO site is Gridcosm. Working with the idea of HyGrid; Gridcosm takes this to another level in collaborative projects by being constructed with multiple levels of graphical squares which are continually built upon. A level consists of 9 squares, with the centre being the “seed” image that others build off. Once all squares are completed, that work then becomes the centre piece for the next level and the process is repeated. There are currently 3042 levels (and counting) in Gridcosm and from statistics shown, continues to have images regularly uploaded to the site to the complete the current level. Other projects that SITO offers are Slithr, an animation project, Impulse Freak, a collaborative comic book and Shuffleupagus, an offline game created for players to produce a 9 page comic through various collaborative activities.

All of the projects offered at SITO permit any member to contribute to the community with no restrictions on the content they provide. Working together, each contribution builds the art pieces, whether they come to finished works (like the original Grids) or are continually evolving (like Gridcosm). Works like these will hopefully continue to be founded, not just in art communities but in other areas of interest. These collaborative efforts demonstrate the possibilities that were previously hindered before the use of the internet and show the opportunities that online communities are open to.

Same Purpose, Different Approach

Online Communities allow people to connect with each other which they were previously unable to do due to the physical limitations in the real world. The internet allows users to cross the geographical boundary and their everyday identities to form new relationships with others who share common interests, sharing their knowledge and ideas with each other to help the community grow. Numerous communities are based upon similar interests; however this does not imply that the share the same community valves as one another. This can be seen in the art communities DeviantART and GFXartist, who while sharing a common interest of art with the community, have different purposes behind how their communities present their art pieces and working with one another.

DeviantART's main importance is holding the community together by involving them in acitivities, providing tools which users can use to communicate with one another and other means so that members can feel belonging within the online society. This is mainly done by allowing all users to contribute to areas of the website as they choose. DeviantART regularly holds competitions (both official and unofficial) for the community for prizes such as subscriptions or art prints, encouraging members to be creative and work with a particular theme. Users also have access to chat rooms and forums to communicate with one another about more specific interests and are allowed to submit information to the news section. Members are able to submit almost any type of artwork, even allowing a ‘Scraps’ for uncompleted or simple sketches that an artist may not find suitable for their gallery. Members are able to share their views on an artwork by commenting, which can be either simple encouragement or constructive criticism. DeviantART works with its users to create a strong community that helps one another and encourages continued creativity to form strong bonds with each other and artistic valves.

GFXartist is also an art community that permits artists to submit artworks and comment on other member’s work; however the goals that drive GFXartist differ greatly from those of DeviantART. The main valve behind this art community is having artwork exposed and voted on to become the best in your particular category. GFXartist limits its members to only six main areas of artistic expression which include 3D modelling, drawing, painting, photo manipulation, photography and design. In each of these galleries, the highest rated artwork is shown as well as the top ten, which are voted on by the community. There are two separate galleries in the community, those of the members and those of the elite. If members receive enough votes during the month, they are nominated for the elite status on the site, which is again voted on by the community. GFXartist also has a separate page called the ‘G-spot’, which presents the highest rated artworks in the entire community, noting that most of those on the list are elite members. GFXartist moderators particularly specify to new members that only the best of their artworks should be shared with the community and that artists who do otherwise will have their work removed. News and forums are provided for the community, though main categories are already selected for the users to submit serious queries or ask for advice on developmental works in the forums and news is rare and mostly submitted by moderators.

By comparing these two artwork communities, it can be seen that while online communities can have the same common interest which brings them together, different goals and valves can greatly affect their organisation. DeviantART is grounded in keeping a strong community and having members use the site like a web journal. In contrast, GFXartist encourages its users to use the site as a gallery of the best artworks and become the best their in their particular art form. Nevertheless, both are online environments which allow users to come together and share their work, something that they would otherwise be unable to do so.

DeviantART – The online community of potential

The internet is brimming with opportunities for individuals to actively take part in. Online communities in particular allow for users to discover new roles, share knowledge and opinions with others about common interests and build networks across multiple online environments. One such community known as DeviantART

demonstrates the potential benefits of being part of an online community in its many facets, as well as the downfalls that its online society is vulnerable to.

DeviantART targets the interest of art in its many different forms. Once becoming a member, users are provided with their own webpage which they can then upload their artworks to. These art pieces can range from digital paintings to jewellery pieces, choosing from a wide range of categories supplied when progressing through the submission process. In turn, other members are able to leave comments on the artworks, giving opinions and constructive criticism where needed. These interactions are however only the most basic use of the online community, for as the community has evolved over the years; new tools have been implemented and unexpected developments have occurred.

This online community presents new roles for members as they begin to discover other activities that they can become involved in. Users are able to ‘favourite’, buy, create a wish list, and most recently ‘collect’ other member’s artworks. Users are also able to ‘devwatch’ other artists so that they are able to see when the member submits new content to their webpage. Users then begin to socially network with one another, finding others who share similar artistic tastes as their own and commenting on each other’s work to encourage improvement and creative practise. Artists have also been known to collaborate with each other on artworks, either drawing and colouring separately or submitting linework to their webpage for others to complete. Artists thus because active participants and content creators within the online community, submitting art pieces to benefit both the artist and other members.

DeviantART also provides other tools which allow artists to be engaged within the art community. The DeviantART shop permits artists to sell their artworks online to other users in a variety of formats. Depending on what type of account a user has, artists can receive a considerable amount of money from their sales. The Chat and Forums also allow for communication among members and coordinators, discussing both trivial and serious issues, from praising work to placing job offerings for artists. The News section is also an area where any member can submit news for the public community to read.

While DeviantART allow artists to network and communicate with one another, there are others to purposely use these mediums to disrupt the community and its users. Individuals are able to create accounts which they use to spam areas that are open to all members, while others leave negative messages to artists they are not in favour of. While the DeviantART community is able to report these instances and have such members blocked, this does not stop them from creating new accounts and continuing their behaviour. These are always the possible problems that can arise when the community allows all users to share their knowledge freely in the online environment.

Regardless of this, DeviantART continues to thrive as a community, with new members and artworks being uploaded regularly to share with others. It is unknown whether DeviantART will adopt new media in the future, such as tagging which has not yet been considered. However whatever path the community takes, it will hopefully continue to grow and aid artists for years to come.

How is Web 2.0 different from Web 1.0?

Web 2.0 offers a dynamic and interactive experiance for internet users through allowing greater participation and authority in creating, reusing and revising content.

The users involvement online is currently in a transitional movement from the read-only to a read-write environment. Web 1.0 uses the internet to display information and knowledge on static webpages. The content published on these webpages are usually created by an individuals, who whether an expert or a amatuar. Other visitors to the sitr are unable in anyway to contribute to or question the content submitted, allowing very little user generated content to be given back into the online environment. Web 2.0 however provides users with new options in contributing to the collective intelligence and allowing user-created content to thrive in online communities.

Web 2.0 has permitted new virtual cultures to emerge including social networking, knowledge management, citizen journalism, open source software development among others. All of these communities rely on user contribution to function, whether that be simply connecting with friends and family on Facebook or developing new software for other users to be continued to be bulit upon.

How do online communities organise themselves?

Why do online communities organise themselves?

Online communities organise themselves due to the convenience the online realms offer in they provide in offering freedoms which can not be obtained through the physical world. Terry Flew highlighted that due to society, there became a decline in opportunities to express oneself in democratic participation and community formation. In contrast, the internet provides a community base for finding others who share similar interests and opinions which may have not be discovered otherwise to geographic limitations and the use of a decentralised network. In these virtual cultures, there is more leverage on the issues and artefacts presented than there would be allowed in the public eye. Online communities have both personal and intellectual diversity, which all participants are able to share their knowledge and views on issues and artefacts, allowing a collective intelligence to continuing build, review and revise content. Users not only have the ability to contribute to the community, but are also able to the form friendships with others within the virtual culture. As people continue to involve themselves in these communities, new identities are formed with each individual which is not appointed, but instead are earned by the engagement in the online community.

How do online communities organise themselves?

Amy Jo Kim (2000) highlights that a gathering place for online communities can be found in many various forms, ranging from a mailing list to web site (p27). All of these however, have a purpose, which keeps the community together and allows it to thrive. This purpose is usually a main interest that all members of the community can identify with and the interest provides a platform in which all users can regularly come together and contribute to, regardless of geographical placement, cultural backgrounds or social status. Kim describes there being four main types of the online communities which are geographic, demographic, topical and activity based, which often overlap with one another (2000, p5-6). Some examples of these include:

Women’s Health – Health Boards
This forum is based around particular woman’s health problems and queries that members may wish to talk about. This community allows others to share their knowledge and opinions on particular topics which others post to the website.

World of WarCraft Focused around the world of warcraft online game, the main site also allows players to communicate with each other outside the gaming in forums to state queries and offer solutions to other players.

DeviantART
DeviantART is both a topical and activity based community, for it not only permits users to submit and comment on each others art, but also allows postings on world art news and discoveries which may be of interest to the community.

What does it require to form online communities?

There have been numerous authors who have stated the qualities that aid in making successful online communities. Amy Jo Kim notes that there are three underlying principles that provide for her strategies in building communities which are Design for growth and change, Create and maintain feedback loops and Empower your members over time (2000, xv-xvi). All three of these principles relate back directly to the user, so that they are able to use the social network to there best capabilities to allow for maximum involvement in the community.

Mike Godwin (cited in Flew, 2002, 70) also proposed ten principles for making a successful virtual culture. Such principles as “use software that promotes group discussion” and “let the users resolve their own disputes” focus particularly on letting the community develop its own topics and issues depending on their particular interests in the community. This also permits members to form their own roles depending on individual contribution. Godwin’s principles also focus on allowing older information to be stored and available, should any individual requires it. This allows users to constantly build upon, reuse and revise the collective intelligence of the community.

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