How Wikipedia Works With Facts

• In Event: Cultures of Fact Travel

Abstract

Wikipedia is a fact-processing factory. Its workers take existing knowledge, in all its variety and complexity, and collaboratively wrestle the facts into a singular all-encompassing narrative. The online encyclopedia places high value on transparency and its platform records the evolution of each page, including individual edits and editors’ discussions. This provides an inside view on how the narratives come into being, that is, how Wikipedia collaboratively constructs knowledge. Taking the 2014 Sydney hostage crisis as a case study, this paper investigates the editors and processes that select and frame the facts to construct a singular narrative. Using quantitative and qualitative analysis, they look at the work performed by the 176 editors from around the world, who synthesized news reports as they were being published across a variety of international online platforms. The ad hoc nature of the encyclopedia that ‘anyone can edit’ produced a range of consequences including inaccurate information (South African media erroneously reported gunshots within the first few hours), facts that were marginally relevant (a Canadian editor fought to include a tweet of support from the Canadian Prime Minister) and hyperlocal information (an Australian editor included local road closures). But as our research shows, such inclusions didn’t last long as more experienced editors brought order in line with Wikipedia’s own policies. This paper demonstrates that in the world of Wikipedia facts are chosen and knowledge is constructed via a hierarchy of editors who bring diverse international perspectives, and who themselves function within the biases of their own internet histories.

Authors

• Bunty Avieson, University of Sydney

• Chao Sun, University of Sydney