Learning to Trust the Crowd: Some Lessons from Wikipedia

Abstract

Inspired by the open source software (OSS) movement, Wikipedia has gone further than any OSS project in decentralizing its quality control task. This is seen by many as a fatal flaw. In this short paper, the author try to show that it is rather a shrewd and fertile design choice. First, the author describes the precise way in which Wikipedia is more decentralized than OSS projects. Secondly, the author explains why Wikipedia's quality control can be and must be decentralized. Thirdly, the author show why it is wise for Wikipedia to welcome anonymous amateurs. Finally, the author argue that concerns about Wikipedia's quality and sustainable success have to be tempered by the fact that, as disruptive innovations tend to do, Wikipedia is in the process of redefining the pertinent dimensions of quality and value for general encyclopedias.