WEEK1：My Wikipedia Edit---BAISHIQI(백시기)

My First Wikipedia Editing Experience


This week, I finally got to see what it’s really like to edit Wikipedia—and it was way more complicated than I thought.


At the start of the course, I honestly assumed it would be easy. I mean, everyone says “anyone can edit,” right? But once the instructor explained the assignment requirements, I realized it wasn’t going to be that simple. For the translation part, we had to back up every paragraph with proper references—I couldn’t just translate however I wanted or tweak things to sound better. And for the original content part, even though the word count wasn’t that high, picking a good topic and making sure it hadn’t already been written about was actually pretty stressful. On top of that, the deadlines were split into different phases, so I had to manage my time better than usual—no room for last-minute cramming.


Before doing any real editing, I tested things out in the sandbox. The visual editor was easier to use than I expected, but I totally messed up the references the first time. I left out the author and date, so the citation didn’t show up right. I had to go back and read through the help pages multiple times to figure it out. That part was frustrating, but it also made me realize how serious Wikipedia is. It’s not just about adding stuff—every edit gets checked, and even small mistakes can be removed or corrected by others.


After going through the training modules, I understood the rules a lot better. One thing that really stood out was the neutral point of view rule. Basically, you can’t sound biased or include personal opinions. One of my translations actually got deleted because the wording was a bit too subjective. I was kind of annoyed at first, but then I checked the talk page and saw that editors were leaving comments and giving feedback. It wasn’t just people randomly deleting stuff—they were trying to keep things fair and accurate. I adjusted my translation based on their suggestions, and eventually, it got accepted.


This whole experience changed how I think about Wikipedia. I used to see it as just a place to quickly look things up, but now I see it’s a lot more organized and strict than I thought. Sure, anyone can edit, but there are a ton of rules to follow to make sure everything stays reliable. Even though it was a bit stressful at times, I’m glad I got to experience it. It taught me not just how to edit, but how to share knowledge in a way that actually helps others.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Introduction to the blog

This blog is a digital forum where students from Collective Intelligence in Practice: Understanding Wikipedia at the Hanyang University in Korea (2025) will discuss their weekly readings and activities. Each week you are expected to post a blog post on our blog and make a comment on another student's post. You can do so on one of the following three topics: a) You can blog about the readings for the next week. As you are expected to do the assigned readings FOR the lectures they are assigned to, you are expected to post your blog and comments BEFORE that lecture. An ideal commentary should be about half a page in length (~200 words), divided into three clearly labeled sections in which you: 1) summarize in your own words of materials you read; 2) mention any new, interesting, or unusual items learned; 3) identify at least one question, concern, or discussion angle that is either problematic in some respect or could have been elaborated more. This question is likely to be incor...
Read more

Week 1. My Recent Wikipedia Edits - Jeong seolah (정설아)

I made several edits to the Wikipedia page for 'Daegu'.  Daegu, located in the southeastern part of South Korea, is the third-largest urban area in the country, following Seoul and Busan. With a population exceeding 2.3 million, it is the fourth-largest metropolitan city in South Korea and the second-largest in the Yeongnam region after Busan. Often referred to together with the surrounding North Gyeongsang Province as Daegu-Gyeongbuk, this region is home to over 5 million residents. Known for its rich history and vibrant economy, Daegu stands as a key player in South Korea's cultural and industrial landscape. Below is a summary of the changes I contributed. 1) Summarize and link Sights Section:  - Improved clarity by changing “mountains keep many traditional temples” to “the mountains keep many traditional temples.” Mosque Controversy Section:  - Simplified a sentence by removing “and of the authorities.” Festivals Section:  - Made phrasing smoother by changing “tho...
Read more

Week4 - Review about the readings for the next week. - Jo HyeonSeong (조현성)

 1. Summarize in my own words of materials. The book is primarily about the openness of Wikipedia. Openness means that anyone can participate in the creation and editing of articles without any qualifications. Openness can be a double-edged sword. While it means that you can edit without having expert knowledge of a topic, it also means that you can participate even if you have expert knowledge. For experts, articles written by non-experts can come across as inaccurate knowledge, which can anger experts. This anger can also be a catalyst for Wikipedia to continue to improve. However, articles edited only by non-experts can cause misunderstandings and convey incorrect information, so openness can be considered a double-edged sword. In fact, it sometimes causes some conflict, such as Wales' negative stance. Openness also means freedom from copyright, which means anyone can take it and use it anywhere. That is why the knowledge of non-experts can have greater impact. That is why appro...
Read more