ABSTRACT
Research has shown the importance of a functioning governance system for the success of peer production communities. It particularly highlights the role of human coordination and communication within the governance regime. In this article, we extend this line of research by differentiating two categories of governance mechanisms. The first category is based primarily on communication, in which social norms emerge that are often formalized by written rules and guidelines. The second category refers to the technical infrastructure that enables users to access artifacts, and that allows the community to communicate and coordinate their collective actions to create those artifacts. We collected qualitative and quantitative data from Wikipedia in order to show how a community's consensus gradually converts social mechanisms into algorithmic mechanisms. In detail, we analyze algorithmic governance mechanisms in two embedded cases: the software extension "flagged revisions" and the bot "xqbot". Our insights point towards a growing relevance of algorithmic governance in the realm of governing large-scale peer production communities. This extends previous research, in which algorithmic governance is almost absent. Further research is needed to unfold, understand, and also modify existing interdependencies between social and algorithmic governance mechanisms.
- Y. Benkler. The Wealth of Networks: How Social Production Transforms Markets and Freedom. Yale University Press, 2007. Google ScholarDigital Library
- I. Beschastnikh, T. Kriplean, and D. W. McDonald. Wikipedian self-governance in action: Motivating the policy lens. In International Conference on Weblogs and Social Media, 2008.Google Scholar
- M. Burke and R. Kraut. Mopping up: modeling wikipedia promotion decisions. In Proceedings of the 2008 ACM conference on Computer supported cooperative work, CSCW '08, pages 27--36, New York, NY, USA, 2008. ACM. Google ScholarDigital Library
- B. Butler, E. Joyce, and J. Pike. Don't look now, but we've created a bureaucracy: the nature and roles of policies and rules in wikipedia. In Proceeding of the twenty-sixth annual SIGCHI conference on Human factors in computing systems, CHI '08, pages 1101--1110, New York, NY, USA, 2008. ACM. Google ScholarDigital Library
- C. R. B. de Souza and D. F. Redmiles. An empirical study of software developers' management of dependencies and changes. In Proceedings of the 30th international conference on Software engineering, ICSE '08, pages 241--250, New York, NY, USA, 2008. ACM. Google ScholarDigital Library
- A. Forte and A. Bruckman. Scaling consensus: Increasing decentralization in wikipedia governance. In Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences, page 157, 2008. Google ScholarDigital Library
- R. S. Geiger. The social roles of bots and assisted editing programs. In Proceedings of the 5th International Symposium on Wikis and Open Collaboration, WikiSym '09, pages 30:1--30:2, New York, NY, USA, 2009. ACM. Google ScholarDigital Library
- R. S. Geiger. The lives of bots. In G. Lovink and N. Tkacz, editors, CRITICAL POINT OF VIEW: A Wikipedia Reader, pages 78--93, Amsterdam, 2011.Google Scholar
- R. S. Geiger and D. Ribes. The work of sustaining order in wikipedia: the banning of a vandal. In Proceedings of the 2010 ACM conference on Computer supported cooperative work, CSCW '10, pages 117--126, New York, NY, USA, 2010. ACM. Google ScholarDigital Library
- R. E. Grinter. Recomposition: Coordinating a web of softwaredependencies. Comput. Supported Coop. Work, 12:297--327, July 2003. Google ScholarDigital Library
- A. Halfaker, R. S. Geiger, J. Morgan, and J. Riedl. The rise and decline of an open collaboration system: How wikipedia's reaction to sudden popularity is causing its decline. American Behavioral Scientist, in-press.Google Scholar
- A. Halfaker and J. Riedl. Bots and cyborgs: Wikipedia's immune system. Computer, 45(3):79--82, Mar. 2012. Google ScholarDigital Library
- C. Jensen and W. Scacchi. Governance in open source software development projects: A comparative multi-level analysis. In P. Ågerfalk, C. Boldyreff, J. González-Barahona, G. Madey, and J. Noll, editors, Open Source Software: New Horizons, volume 319 of IFIP Advances in Information and Communication Technology, pages 130--142. Springer, Boston, 2010.Google Scholar
- A. Kittur, B. Pendleton, and R. E. Kraut. Herding the cats: the influence of groups in coordinating peer production. In Proceedings of the 5th International Symposium on Wikis and Open Collaboration, WikiSym '09, pages 7:1--7:9, New York, NY, USA, 2009. ACM. Google ScholarDigital Library
- A. Kittur, B. Suh, B. A. Pendleton, and E. H. Chi. He says, she says: conflict and coordination in wikipedia. In CHI '07: Proceedings of the SIGCHI conference on Human factors in computing systems, pages 453--462, New York, NY, USA, 2007. ACM. Google ScholarDigital Library
- P. Laat. Governance of open source software: state of the art. Journal of Management and Governance, 11(2):165--177, May 2007.Google ScholarCross Ref
- L. Lessig. Code and other Laws of Cyberspace. Basic Books, New York, 2000. Google ScholarDigital Library
- M. Markus. The governance of free/open source software projects: monolithic, multidimensional, or configurational? Journal of Management and Governance, 11:151--163, 2007.Google ScholarCross Ref
- E. W. Morrison. Newcomer information seeking: Exploring types, modes, sources, and outcomes. The Academy of Management Journal, 36(3):pp. 557--589, 1993.Google Scholar
- S. Niederer and J. van Dijck. Wisdom of the crowd or technicity of content? wikipedia as a sociotechnical system. New Media & Society, 12(8):1368--1387, 2010.Google ScholarCross Ref
- S. O'Mahony and F. Ferraro. The emergence of governance in an open source community. Academy of Management Journal, 50(5):1079--1106, 2007.Google ScholarCross Ref
- E. Ostrom. Collective action and the evolution of social norms. The Journal of Economic Perspectives, 14(3):137--158, 2000.Google ScholarCross Ref
- K. Panciera, A. Halfaker, and L. Terveen. Wikipedians are born, not made: a study of power editors on wikipedia. In Proceedings of the ACM 2009 international conference on Supporting group work, GROUP '09, pages 51--60, New York, NY, USA, 2009. ACM. Google ScholarDigital Library
- A. Schroeder and C. Wagner. Governance of open content creation: A conceptualization and analysis of control and guiding mechanisms in the open content domain. J. Am. Soc. Inf. Sci. Technol., 63(10):1947--1959, Oct. 2012. Google ScholarDigital Library
- S. K. Shah. Motivation, governance, and the viability of hybrid forms in open source software development. Management Science, 52(7):1000--1014, 2006. Google ScholarDigital Library
- C. Steiner. Automate this: How Algorithms came to rule our world. Portfolio, 2012.Google Scholar
- B. Suh, G. Convertino, E. H. Chi, and P. Pirolli. The singularity is not near: slowing growth of wikipedia. In Proceedings of the 5th International Symposium on Wikis and Open Collaboration, WikiSym '09, pages 8:1--8:10, New York, NY, USA, 2009. ACM. Google ScholarDigital Library
- M. L. Tushman. Work characteristics and subunit communication structure: A contingency analysis. Administrative Science Quarterly, 24(1):pp. 82--98, 1979.Google ScholarCross Ref
- F. B. Viégas, M. Wattenberg, and M. M. McKeon. The hidden order of wikipedia. In Proceedings of the 2nd international conference on Online communities and social computing, OCSC'07, pages 445--454, Berlin, Heidelberg, 2007. Springer-Verlag. Google ScholarDigital Library
- Wikipedia. Wikipedia:meinungsbilder/weiterführung der gesichteten versionen. http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Meinungsbilder/Weiterf%C3%BChrung_der_gesichteten_Versionen, September 2008.Google Scholar
- Wikipedia. Discussion on administrator re-election votes (in german). http://de.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Wikipedia_Diskussion:Adminwiederwahl&oldid=73644489#abgelaufene_Stimmen, April 2010.Google Scholar
- Wikipedia. Discussion on obsolete votes (in german). http://de.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Wikipedia_Diskussion:Adminwiederwahl&oldid=74215389#Obsolete_Voten, May 2010.Google Scholar
- Wikipedia. Request for deleting obsolete votes from re-election pages (in german). http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Bots/Anfragen/Archiv/2010-1#Entfernen_von_abgelaufenen_Stimmen_auf_Wiederwahlseiten, April 2010.Google Scholar
- Wikipedia. Wikipedia:flagged revisions/sighted versions. http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Wikipedia:Flagged_revisions/Sighted_versions&oldid=524673795, November 2012.Google Scholar
- Wikipedia. Wikipedia is not a democracy. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:What_Wikipedia_is_not, January 2013.Google Scholar
- Wikipedia. Wikipedia:pc2012. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:PC2012, January 2013.Google Scholar
- Wikipedia. Wikipedia:policies and guidelines. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Policies_and_guidelines, January 2013.Google Scholar
- Wikipedia. Wikipedia:polling is not a substitute for discussion. http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Wikipedia:Polling_is_not_a_substitute_for_discussion, January 2013.Google Scholar
- O. E. Williamson. Strategy research: governance and competence perspectives. Strategic Management Journal, 20(12):1087--1108, 1999.Google ScholarCross Ref
Index Terms
- Work-to-rule: the emergence of algorithmic governance in Wikipedia
Recommendations
The work of sustaining order in wikipedia: the banning of a vandal
CSCW '10: Proceedings of the 2010 ACM conference on Computer supported cooperative workIn this paper, we examine the social roles of software tools in the English-language Wikipedia, specifically focusing on autonomous editing programs and assisted editing tools. This qualitative research builds on recent research in which we ...
ICT for governance in combating corruption: the case of public e-procurement in Portugal
ICEGOV '14: Proceedings of the 8th International Conference on Theory and Practice of Electronic GovernanceLiterature has highlighted the potential of information and communication technology (ICT) in building new models of public governance that promote fairness and accountability, which are key requirements in the fight against corruption. In this context, ...
Accountability and the new media: use of ICTs in governance in India
ICTD '10: Proceedings of the 4th ACM/IEEE International Conference on Information and Communication Technologies and DevelopmentCitizens across the world are constantly innovating new mechanisms of holding their governments accountable for their actions. One such mechanism that is gaining popularity in developing countries is E-governance. Using two case studies of Online Public ...
Comments