Wikipedia Governance Links

An annotated collection of references related to governance issues on Wikipedia.

These links will be organized as a resource for anyone writing an article on the subject of Wikipedia governance. Please use the Comment area at the bottom of the page for discussions about organizing this page.

Authors

Index of earliest Wikipedia revisions (2001)
 In late 2010, Tim Starling of the Wikimedia Foundation discovered some forgotten files that document the earliest edits to Wikipedia.  (See Examiner article about this event.)  If anyone has the technical ability to copy this data, including the deep history links, into a wiki architecture, please contact Gregory Kohs.

The Governance Model of Wikipedia by Barry Kort
A review of Wikipedia's popular practice of blocking and banning adversarial editors.

Identifying and understanding the problems of Wikipedia's peer governance: The case of inclusionists vs deletionists by Vasilis Kostakis
Wikipedia has been hailed as one of the most prominent peer projects that led to the rise of the concept of peer governance. However, criticism has been levelled against Wikipedia’s mode of governance. This paper, using the Wikipedia case as a point of departure and building upon the conflict between inclusionists and deletionists, tries to identify and draw some conclusions on the problematic issue of peer governance.

Corruption of Wikipedia by Carl Hewitt
For the greater good of Wikipedia, Jimmy "Jimbo" Wales should resign from its board of Trustees.

The Six Rotten Pillars of Wikipedia by Cedric
Why Wikipedia is doomed.

Criticisms of Wikipedia by Gomi
A Compendium.

Is something fundamentally wrong with Wikipedia governance processes? by Michel Bauwens
The Wikipedia is often hailed as a prime example of peer production and peer governance, an example of how a community can self-govern very complex processes. But it is also increasingly showing the dark side and pitfalls of purely informal approaches, especially when they scale.

Top 10 Reasons Not to Donate to Wikipedia by Gregory Kohs
Every year the Wikimedia Foundation asks for financial contributions from unsuspecting donors, so every year this list is updated and publicized in response to the WMF fund drive.

National wiki edits Examiner by Gregory Kohs
For years, Kohs has carefully expressed grave concerns about the Wikimedia Foundation (owners of Wikipedia), citing an improbable number of lapses in governance and knowledge management.

Wikipedia’s Six Cardinal Sins by Sam Vaknin
Six deadly cardinal sins plague the Wikipedia. What unites and underlies all its deficiencies is simple: Wikipedia dissembles about what it is and how it operates.

The Wikipedia Cult by Sam Vaknin
Daniel Tynan interviews Sam Vaknin, who characterizes Wikipedia as a classic cult.

Is Wikipedia a Cult? Wikipedia strikes back by Sam Vaknin
Sam Vaknin writes a follow-up, responding to comments and criticisms of his previous article on the subject.

Theochlocracy and Narcissism by Sam Vaknin
Sam Vaknin discusses the noxious mixture of theocracy and ochlocracy (mob rule) as propelled by narcissistic drives.

Is the Wikimedia Foundation going to close Wikiversity? by Leigh Blackall
Blog post by Leigh Blackall, with over 100 comments.

The Wikipedia Timeline by Kato and Derktar
An index to help navigate events in the timeline.

 Wikipedia as a Police State by Will Johnson
An examination of the arbitrary and capricious practice of Wikipedia administrators blocking editors, including how abuses in that system are not properly addressed.

Comments

Further material on the governance of Wikipedia

This combined tag contains 155 links on Wikipedia's governance, see http://www.delicious.com/mbauwens/Wikipedia+P2P-Governance

Here are a number of quoted discussions on the topic, via http://p2pfoundation.net/Wikipedia - Governance

Michel Bauwens

Michel Bauwens - 16 Jan 2011

The URL for the P2P wiki page didn't come out right, because of the spaces in the name of the page.

The correct link is: http://p2pfoundation.net/Wikipedia_-_Governance

Barry Kort - 16 Jan 2011

Useful, but can we balance it?

Hi Barry, good idea here. This is a useful resource. Not wanting to blow my own, but I think the comments to <a href="http://leighblackall.blogspot.com/2010/03/is-wikimedia-foundation-going-to-close.html">my post</a> are quite useful. Hope my next suggestion doesn't anger you, but I think there needs to be a balance here.. links to responses and counter arguments would be equally useful.. I'm not much involved in these issues, but hope to find articles that cross the spectrum some.

Leigh Blackall - 29 May 2010

I've added your blog post on Wikiversity, noting the large number of comments. Feel free to edit any of the annotations.

Barry Kort - 29 May 2010

Also, WP user page Kim Bruning has an interesting list of readings http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Kim_Bruning

Leigh Blackall - 29 May 2010

perhaps Aaron Swartz Who Runs Wikipedia http://www.aaronsw.com/weblog/whorunswikipedia

Leigh Blackall - 29 May 2010