Writing the Revolution by Heather Ford

Author:Heather Ford
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: MIT Press

GETTING TO THE SOURCE

Once the article has been approved, there is some reprieve, but its existence can still be challenged at any point. To retain its status as a legitimate host of facts on Wikipedia, it needs to attract multiple allies and traveling companions, in the form of editors, sources, and readers. Because opposition to facts fuels attention and labor, facts’ editorial allies include not only those who support the facts’ representation on Wikipedia but also those who dispute it.

In the birth stage of the article, good allies are experienced editors who recognize the significance or notability of the article; at the next stage, good allies are those that come in scale. A large volume of editors working on various aspects of the article, as well as diversity in their makeup, is critical. So, too, is a steady stream of external sources covering the events. Also essential at this stage is an even larger number of readers of the article who accept Wikipedia’s recognition of the events as important and turn their attention to the site as a source for breaking news.

A massive crowd moves into the article, led by a team that coalesces around common tasks. What is needed is for attention on the events to be sustained—not only on Wikipedia but in the sources that it depends on to feed its machinery. Facts need a constant supply of traveling companions in order to sustain the event’s historic status. This practice on Wikipedia mirrors what is happening on the ground in Egypt. The catalyst for the event requires the participation of key actors who understand how to shape their messages in ways that will ignite popular participation. For attention on the event to be sustained, the public will need to continue to fill the streets in large numbers and maintain their focus on the common goal of bringing down Mubarak’s government. Publics outside the event’s epicenter in Egypt will also need to pay attention to the event.

During breaking news events, editors use sources as a way to verify claims being made, and their citations as a trail for users to follow in order to verify whether the sources are being accurately reflected. The discovery, triangulation, selection, and summarizing of sources are central to the practice of article editing, and sourcing practice plays an important role in determining which sources are more prominently displayed than others. The ways in which editors compile facts in the article, using particular types of sources and citing a subset of those sources, work to frame the article in particular ways. The article starts to fill with accumulated facts, all with their attendant traveling companions. Sometimes those companions do battle when there are competing alternative claims.

If Wikipedia is built on the principle that every statement, especially potentially controversial statements, should be backed up by a reliable source, then a good way of understanding how Wikipedia’s articles are shaped is to look at where its sources come from.

In 2012, I connected with two data scientists, David Musicant and Shilad Sen, who were also interested in studying Wikipedia sources.

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