writing for the internet, collaborative writing

Writing for the Internet, collaborative writing

Skills: revising a wiki document IT concepts: none

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 License.

Where does this topic fit?

• Internet concepts– Applications– Technology– Implications

• Internet skills– Application development– Content creation (text)

Growth of Wikipedia article on the heavy metal umlaut

The umlaut

The article began with a single, anonymous sentence on April 15, 2003:

The "heavy metal umlaut" over the ö in the names of Motörhead, and the Blue Öyster Cult has led to the term "spandex and umlaut circuit" being used to describe the heavy metal band touring scene.

By October 8, 2009 it had been edited over 1,500 times by 932 people and is over 2,500 words long.

The table of contents contains 7 sections and 3 subsections.

Edits from April 2003 to October 2009

Year Edits2003 (April 15) 352004 2542005 3112006 3082007 2582008 2252009 (October 8) 121Total 1,512

Editing activity appears to be slowing.

Editing frequency (through Oct. 2009)

Edits 51 50 17 15 13 12 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Freq. 1 1 1 1 4 1 1 3 1 4 6 9 12 34 158 695

One person made 51 changes, but 695 made only one.

Jon Udell’s video of the article evolution

• Original version (some x-rated footage)• Edited version (x-rated material blocked)

Jon Udell made a time lapse screencast that shows the changes over time:

Watch the video. While watching, keep track of the kinds of edits it illustrates.

Some ways to improve a wiki document

• Fix a typo or spelling error – get over “stage fright”• Fix a grammatical error• Fix a factual error• Add a detail, reference, link or image• Rewrite an awkward or ambiguous sentence• Add a clarifying example• Change the appearance or format of the document• Revise a concept• Draft a new sub topic• Reorganize or rearrange the document

Every edit should improve a collaborative document.

Improvements Udell showed

Correcting a factual error12:266/26/2004

12:326/26/2004

Debating change in the discussion area

I condensed the text of the Spinal Tap story a little (removing only the bit about Guatemala) and moved it to the caption. It has since been moved back. My thinking is this: A caption should tell something about the picture and tie the picture to the article. ke4roh 21:16, 26 Jun 2004

I've left it out but readded Guatemala, so people will have some idea where the heck Jacaltec is from - David Gerard 21:49, 26 Jun 2004

(The comments are edited for focus).

> The n-umlaut/n-diaeresis character does not occur in any known language

It does occur in a small Central American Amerindian language, Jacaltec. Added. Wikipedia, where no detail is too obscure!  :-D - David Gerard 12:34, 26 Jun 2004

This is what it says today

October 82009

The sentence remained in the body, not the picture caption, and another language was added.

Note another correction – the word diaeresis was removed after considerable discussion.

Improving appearance or format

12:326/26/2004

14:136/26/2004

Revising a concept

What does the umlaut signify? A Nazi/Hitler theme is suggested.

April 12004

The Nazi/Hitler reference has been deleted.

April 22004

What does the umlaut signify?

What does the umlaut signify?

October 82009

Foreign branding and a Teutonic quality

Correcting vandalism on June 26 2004

The obscenity edit war lasted less than two minutes.

Time Author Action21:51 the article is clean23:20 Dj28 Add one dirty sentence23:20 Mirv Delete the dirty sentence23:22 Dj28 Add several dirty sentences23:23 Mirv Delete the dirty sentences23:24 Dj28 Add more dirty sentences23:24 Mirv Delete the dirty sentences

Reorganizing and adding structure

The page started in April, 2003 with a single sentence from an anonymous contributor.

Today it is organized in seven major sections.

Adding links and references

• 18 references• Links to 37 heavy metal bands• Links to 16 bands with special characters in

their names other than the umlaut

Over 100 internal and external links have been added, including: