Reading3 (MINJI JEONG)

 [Summary]

     The chapter "Conflict and Consensus in an Open Source Community" from Joseph Reagle's book "Good Faith Collaboration: The Culture of Wikipedia" explores the selection process for Wikipedia's "featured articles" and the tensions that arise between consensus and expertise in this process. Reagle uses ethnographic research methods to examine how the community navigates these tensions and the role of power and authority in the decision-making process. He finds that there is often conflict between community members who prioritize consensus and those who prioritize expertise, and that more experienced or knowledgeable members often have more influence in the selection process. However, the community values transparency and accountability, and decisions are typically made through public discussion and debate. Reagle's chapter sheds light on the challenges of collaborative decision-making in open-source communities and the need for balance between consensus and expertise.

     The fourth chapter of "Good Faith Collaboration: The Culture of Wikipedia" by Joseph Reagle examines the technological infrastructure that enables mass collaboration on Wikipedia. Reagle stresses the significance of collaboration and coordination in Wikipedia's success and evaluates the specific tools and systems that facilitate this collaboration. He illustrates how Wikipedia's wiki platform enables anyone to edit and contribute to articles, and how bots and automated tools help manage content by detecting and reversing vandalism or maintaining consistency. Furthermore, Reagle explores the social norms and practices that support collaboration, such as the community's dependence on "wikilove" and dispute resolution systems. He emphasizes the importance of transparency and accountability in sustaining trust within the community. Overall, Reagle provides a comprehensive analysis of the technological and social infrastructure that underpins Wikipedia's success as a collaborative project. By examining the tools and systems that facilitate collaboration, along with the social norms and practices that support it, Reagle highlights the importance of balancing technological and human elements for successful mass collaboration.

[Interesting point]

    It was interesting that Wikipedia was trying to balance human and technological resources to create a successful knowledge window. Wikipedia's Wikipedia platform explains how to enable anyone to edit and contribute articles and how bots and automated tools help manage content by detecting, reversing, or maintaining consistency in vandalism.

[Discussion angle]

     The author notes that there is often conflict between community members who prioritize consensus and professionalism on conflicts in open-source communities, and that they find that more experienced or knowledgeable members have more influence in the selection process. However, there is always a need for a device that can check the authority over information power. What are the systems, if any?