clash of the encyclopedias - is competition good for sharing?
DESCRIPTION
Talk given at the Get It Louder 'SHARISM' conference in Shanghai, 22 October 2010. http://www.getitlouder.com/enChair.aspx?ID=94 One of the benefits of the open web is that good ideas can flourish easily. In the Chinese speaking web, the idea of an online encyclopedia has been especially fruitful. With the Chinese Wikipedia enjoying its eighth birthday last month, it’s worth examining whether the fragmentation of efforts ultimately leads to a better product and bigger communities, or if the “us vs them” mentality is harmful to sharing.TRANSCRIPT
Clash Encyclopedias
Is competition good for sharing?Brianna Laugher * SHARISM
of the
“There's, in fact, no reason for China to use Wikipedia, a service based 'out there'. It's
very natural for China to make its own products.”
– Baidu's William Chang
“[I]t's very easy for overseas Chinese to accept Hudong.com as the 'Wikipedia of China.' […] We think we understand the
Chinese language and people better than Wikipedia. We believe we can do a better
job.”
– Hudong's Haidong Pan
1. Hudong2. English Wikipedia3. Baidu Baike4. German Wikipedia
… Chinese Wikipedia
World's largest wikis
[insert Hudong edit button here]
fragmentation of effortvs
competition is healthy?
Unique Selling Proposition
5P五大支柱
WP:NOT百科
永乐大典1408
古今圖書集成1725
NPOV中立
not the “middle” or moderate position
an overview of all positions
free content开放
(自由內容 )
a free content license is...
protection for the community
an invitation for everyone else
AGF互重
IAR无权威
protection for the community
the right to fork!
… in case the administrators become jerks
.... in case the community becomes divided about which direction to go
… in case the owners decide it's no longer “financially viable”
… in case the owners abandon the project
no one knows everything,but everyone knows something
no one owns any particular thing,but everyone owns everything
Competition from within?
the argument for free culturealways needs to include
FREEDOM!
•Title picture “Fight on snow” from http://www.f lickr.com/photos/63766699@N00/2257011693 by Suneko, licensed CC-BY-SA.•Logos and screenshots © respective owners•Globe from http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Globe_Eurasia.svg by Ssolbergj, licensed GFDL•Map of China from http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Blank_map_of_china.svg by historicair, licensed CC-BY-SA•Graph of Chinese Wikipedia block from "Group Size and Incentives to Contribute: A Natural Experiment at Chinese Wikipedia" by Xiaoquan (Michael) Zhang and Feng Zhu, published in the American Economic Review.•Chinese encyclopedia images public domain, from Wikimedia Commons•Nobel image from http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Alfred_Nobel_mirrored.png by Aushulz, released into the public domain•WikiReader photos from http://www.f lickr.com/photos/pfctdayelise/sets/72157625071914527/ by me :) licensed CC-BY-SA•Protective vest icon from http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:D-M015.svg by Epop, released into the public domain•Wikipe-tan with Chinese 'welcome' sign from http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Wikipe-tan_holding_a_welcome_sign_cropped_%28simplified_chinese_version%29.png by Leon3289, licensed CC-BY-SA.•PediaPress book stack from http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Pedia-bunch-2.jpg by Notafish, licensed CC-BY-SA.• Riot drawing public domain, from Wikimedia Commons
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brianna.laugher.id.au/blog/
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