By Andy Oram
A recent article titled “What Motivates Wikipedians?” (written by Oded Nov in Communications of the ACM, November 2007, Vol. 50, No. 11, pp. 60-64) attracted my eye because I’ve been doing similar research on why people write computer documentation. Back in June I published the results of a survey that over 350 people filled out. I wanted to see what more rigorous research would turn up.
Professor Nov, an information systems expert, produced a nice data point that seems to be methodologically sound, covering eight different motivations for contributing to Wikipedia. But I thought of one more (and when I wrote him, he was gracious enough to suggest it “should be included in a future empirical study of contribution motivations”).
The article is not available to the general public online, but I can summarize the motivations Nov tested in his survey:
- Altruism and humanitarian concerns
- Responding to requests by friends or attempting to engage in an activity viewed favorably by important others
- Chances to learn new things
- Preparing for a new career or signaling knowledge to potential employers
- Addressing personal problems, such as guilt at being more fortunate than others
- Ego needs and public exhibition of knowledge
- Ideological concerns, such as belief that information should be free
- Fun
This is a pretty comprehensive list of personal reasons for doing something that doesn’t offer any immediate personal payback. But what’s missing from this list? The motivation that means the most to me personally, and probably to many people who write: they actually have something to say!
I can see why the motivations in the previous list would be prominent for a professor adding details about, say, the ancient Battle of Salamis. It’s hard to imagine how the professor could benefit from other people having the correct facts.
But there are lots of urgent social issues where someone feels he or she benefits from other people having the correct facts: political controversies, public health problems whose cures depend on widespread compliance, and so on. In my own field, people are writing computer documentation because they want to promote the software they’re writing or using. The intrinsic motivations in the list may add a bit of extra incentive, but the main goal is to get one’s point of view heard. And the Wikipedia’s fame, along with the high rankings it receives in web searches, ensures that lots of casual web users will read its entries. If you care about people hearing your point of view, you’d better damn well write for Wikipedia.
Wikipedia reflects a new information environment that flattens the status of information providers. Whether you’re Encyclopedia Britannica, the New York Times, or O’Reilly Media, you’re competing with anyone who can fill out a form online or write an email message. Millions of people who used to gripe over their beer glasses are taking advantage of the medium to get their voice heard more widely—and that’s enough motivation for many.
