engleski

From News to Knowledge in 60 Seconds: dynamics of networked content production on Wikipedia

Rapid technological developments create a need for theoretical and empirical improvements in our understanding of the media and communication processes. As the fifth most popular website globally, and with an average of 400 million people visiting Wikipedia and other Wikimedia sites every month, Wikipedia has become a starting reference point on many different topics. It is often regarded as a part of social media or Web 2.0. Social media are a specific set of technologies in a global political economy which enable specific online cultures to communicate in a variety of ways and to collaborate on various projects. In that context Wikipedia is unique since it is an open community with free and open content for access, use and distribution. As its motto says it is a free encyclopaedia that anyone can edit. But what happens when an encyclopaedia creates articles on current and ongoing events? How do we rationalize this and what does it mean to citizens who look for information online? Is it news or is it knowledge? Does it even matter? This presentation will showcase the main theoretical and methodological standpoints of an ongoing doctoral dissertation research, as well as some preliminary results, in order to stimulate discussion about changing patterns of societal communication. The research is broadly based in the theories of network society (Castells), networked communication model (Cardoso), media events (Dayan and Katz) and the rising field of multidisciplinary Wikipedia research. While Wikipedia research has dealt with its many different aspects, from quality of content to different aspects of the community, the tendency was to study Wikipedia as an isolated phenomenon. The main argument of this presentation is that we need to expand Wikipedia research in order to place it in the broader context of the networked communication model. In that context media production formats, such as news or media events, need to be reconsidered and updated.

Networked communication model; media formats; commons-based peer production

nije evidentirano