Social class bias on Wikipedia
Wikipedia has been criticized for having a systemic social class bias in its coverage, due to an under-representation of lower class people within its editor base.[1] Many of the arguments made regarding the systemic bias against women and racialised people on wikipedia also apply to people of lower social class, as for example a small presence within the technology sector, and a relative lack of reliable access to the Internet,[2][1] as well as a comparative lack of time not experienced by other social class strata.[3][1][4] Wikipedia is also prone to so called "edit wars", which in turn reinforces the issue.[1] One may also argue that intersectionality makes these issues even worse.[5][6]
Research indicate that because of the fact that the norms of higher social classes prevail in universities, prestigious workplaces, and other social institutions, lower-class people are less likely to apply for positions in such institutions, less likely to be selected and less likely to stay if selected.[7] Since Wikipedia uses sources of notability it's likely that lower classes perspectives, views, and culture are systematically less likely to appear. Which in turn makes e.g ideologies of merit more likely to appear.[8]
Since an online project such as Wikipedia develops a distinctive online culture, which in turn is relatively dominated by the majority of editors, this makes it harder for anyone who doesn't fit to improve Wikipedia.[9][10][1][11] The issue of classism, however, is hardly new.[12] Since Wikipedia is written primarily by higher class strata the linguistic content of the pages also may reflect a tone generally alien to lower class people, e.g. in the use of passives and the reference to adverbs and adjectives.[13]
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Research[edit]
- Glott, Ruediger; Schmidt, Philipp; Ghosh, Rishab (March 2010). "Wikipedia Survey: Overview Results" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 14 April 2010. Retrieved 11 August 2014.
References[edit]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 Quilter, Laura (2012). "Systemic Bias in Wikipedia : What It Looks Like, and How to Deal with It". Bepress.com. Retrieved 2020-05-19.
- ↑ Cassano, Jay (January 29, 2015). "Black History Matters, So Why Is Wikipedia Missing So Much Of It?". Fast Company. Retrieved 2020-05-19.
- ↑ https://books.google.se/books?id=d_oOCgAAQBAJ&pg=PT988&lpg=PT988&dq=how+subjects+social+class+reaction&source=bl&ots=cMCatGHt2b&sig=ACfU3U2vgHpjz6GL6IGI-wn4WkJpL7nPsg&hl=sv&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjsmd-aw8XpAhXLlYsKHadMDW0Q6AEwEXoECAoQAQ#v=snippet&q=education%20had%20a%20life%20expectancy.&f=false
- ↑ Herring, Susan C. (February 4, 2011). "Communication Styles Make a Difference". The New York Times. Retrieved 2020-05-19.
- ↑ Lapowsky, Issie (March 5, 2015). "Meet the Editors Fighting Racism and Sexism on Wikipedia". Wired. Retrieved 2020-05-19.
- ↑ https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/bjso.12251
- ↑ https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/bjso.12251
- ↑ https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5432c0d8e4b0fc3eccdb0500/t/5a620a308165f505d9a19562/1516374577854/AESP.FINAL.pdf
- ↑ Nguyen, Godefroy Dang; Dejean, Sylvain; Jullien, Nicolas (2018). "Do open online projects create social norms?" (PDF). Journal of Institutional Economics. Retrieved 2020-05-19.
- ↑ Lam, Shyong (Tony) K.; et al. (WikiSym '11). "WP:Clubhouse? An Exploration of Wikipedia's Gender Imbalance" (PDF). Retrieved 2020-05-19.
- ↑ https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/bjso.12251
- ↑ "What Is Classism". Class Action. Retrieved 2020-05-19.
- ↑ Macaulay, Ronald K. S. Talk That Counts: Age, Gender, and Social Class Differences in Discourse. Oxford University Press. p. 155, 157. ISBN 0-19-517382-1. Search this book on
- ↑ https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/bjso.12251
- Jemielniak, Dariusz (14 May 2014). Common Knowledge ? An enthnography of wikipedia. Stanford University Press. p. 13, 16, 17, 19, 20, 117. ISBN 978-0-8047-8944-8. Search this book on
- Lund, Arwid (25 April 2017). Wikipedia, work and capitalism A realm of freedom?. Lund. p. 61, 153, 159, 180, 234, 150, 151. ISBN 978-3-319-50689-0. Search this book on
- Israel, Joachim (1972). Postulates and construction in the social sciences. p. 159. ISBN 91-29-43746-6. Search this book on
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