Collaborative sensemaking during admin permission granting in Wikipedia

Abstract

A self-governed, open contributor system such as Wikipedia depends upon those who are invested in the system to participate as administrators. Processes for selecting which system contributors will be allowed to assume administrative roles in such communities have developed in the last few years as these systems mature. However, little is yet known about such processes, which are becoming increasingly important for the health and maintenance of contributor systems that are becoming increasingly important in the knowledge economy. This paper reports the results of an exploratory study of how members of the Wikipedia community engage in collaborative sensemaking when deciding which members to advance to admin status. © 2011 Springer-Verlag.