Network analysis of user generated content quality in Wikipedia

Abstract

Purpose -Social media platforms allow near-unfettered creation and exchange of user generated content (UGC). Drawing from network science, the purpose of this paper is to examine whether high and low quality UGC differ in their connectivity structures in Wikipedia (which consists of interconnected user generated articles). Design/methodology/approach -Using Featured Articles as a proxy for high quality, a network analysis was undertaken of the revision history of six different language Wikipedias, to offer a network-centric explanation for the emergence of quality in UGC. Findings -The network structure of interactions between articles and contributors plays an important role in the emergence of quality. Specifically the analysis reveals that high-quality articles cluster in hubs that span structural holes.Research limitations/implications -The analysis does not capture the strength of interactions between articles and contributors. The implication of this limitation is that quality is viewed as a binary variable. Extensions to this research will relate strength of interactions to different levels of quality in UGC. Practical implications -The findings help harness the "wisdom of the crowds" effectively. Organisations should nurture users and articles at the structural hubs from an early stage. This can be done through appropriate design of collaborative knowledge systems and development of organisational policies to empower hubs. Originality/value -The network centric perspective on quality in UGC and the use of a dynamic modelling tool are novel. The paper is of value to researchers in the area of social computing and to practitioners implementing and maintaining such platforms in organisations.

The Role of Open Educational Resources (OERs) in Primary Education in Developing Nations: A Case Study of India

“…A study of the WikiProject Medicine revealed a strong positive correlation between new collaborative content and readership, pointing to the dissemination power of collaboration (Ransbotham, Kane & Lurie, 2011). This is supported by the study by Masterman and Wild (2011) Albeit having the potential to eliminate creation and distribution costs, usergeneration still raises quality and information reliability questions (Ingawale, Dutta & Seetharaman, 2013). However, Pratham Books' Chairperson argued that in a context where learners have low levels of literacy and limited or no access to resources, the mere availability of any resource is beneficial to their development (S. Singh, personal communication, May 18, 2016).…”

“…This chapter discussed some of those key problems starting with the proliferation of volunteer and user-generated content (Mallapragada et al, 2012), which despite being a solution to existing distribution problems, poses significant quality concerns (Ingawale et al, 2013). Several studies indicate that quality plays a major role in the sustainability of an OER project (Clements & Pawlowski, 2012;Cechinel et al, Tate & Hoshek, 2009).…”

“…Several studies underline the significance of mother tongue literacy development (Larson & Murray, 2008;Nyaga & Anthonissen, 2012;Asfaha, Beckman, Kurvers & Kroon, 2009) in multilingual settings (Cobo, 2013;Torres, 2013;Tilak, 2007;Nambissan, 2010), endorsing their capacity in improving educational attainment or completion and progress (Sanchez, 2013;Okedara & Okedara, 1992;Kamanda, 2002). Although limited, there is also some interesting discussion around the topic of user-created OERs, which are becoming more and more common (Mallapradaga, Grewal & Lilien, 2012;Pitt, Watson, Berthon, Wynn & Zinkhan, 2006;Di Benedetto, 2014;Hodgkinson-Williams & Paskevicius, 2012), yet greatly contested for their quality (Ingawale, Dutta, Roy, & Seetharaman, 2013). However, the need for access to resources seems stronger than the concern for quality, particularly in developing countries Vijay Kumar, 2009).…”

“…It is forming an entire value chain of content, involving production, distribution and consumption (Blackman, 2016 The rapid growth and use of internet technologies has created multiple platforms where people can share their knowledge. Wikipedia is perhaps one of the largest and most famous examples of a database with all of its content created by users, although the accuracy of its content is largely contested (Ingawale et al, 2013). A number of companies have enabled open source to encourage users to share information about products, brands and core competencies (Di Benedetto, 2014;Pitt, et al, 2006;Mallapragada et al, 2012).…”

“…With an increasing rate of user-generated content (Mallapragada, Grewal & Lilien, 2012), online presence and interactions on social platforms (Pitt et al, 2006;Di Benedetto, 2014), the generation of OERs is gaining attention and interest. Simultaneously, content created by members of the public has also given rise to serious reliability and quality questions (Ingawale et al, 2013).…”