Clash of the encyclopedias - is competition good for sharing?

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Talk given at the Get It Louder 'SHARISM' conference in Shanghai, 22 October 2010. http://www.getitlouder.com/enChair.aspx?ID=94 One of the benefits of the open web is that good ideas can flourish easily. In the Chinese speaking web, the idea of an online encyclopedia has been especially fruitful. With the Chinese Wikipedia enjoying its eighth birthday last month, it’s worth examining whether the fragmentation of efforts ultimately leads to a better product and bigger communities, or if the “us vs them” mentality is harmful to sharing.

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Clash Encyclopedias

Is competition good for sharing?Brianna Laugher * SHARISM

of the

“There's, in fact, no reason for China to use Wikipedia, a service based 'out there'. It's

very natural for China to make its own products.”

– Baidu's William Chang

“[I]t's very easy for overseas Chinese to accept Hudong.com as the 'Wikipedia of China.' […] We think we understand the

Chinese language and people better than Wikipedia. We believe we can do a better

job.”

– Hudong's Haidong Pan

1. Hudong2. English Wikipedia3. Baidu Baike4. German Wikipedia

… Chinese Wikipedia

World's largest wikis

[insert Hudong edit button here]

fragmentation of effortvs

competition is healthy?

Unique Selling Proposition

5P五大支柱

WP:NOT百科

永乐大典1408

古今圖書集成1725

NPOV中立

not the “middle” or moderate position

an overview of all positions

free content开放

(自由內容 )

a free content license is...

protection for the community

an invitation for everyone else

AGF互重

IAR无权威

protection for the community

the right to fork!

… in case the administrators become jerks

.... in case the community becomes divided about which direction to go

… in case the owners decide it's no longer “financially viable”

… in case the owners abandon the project

no one knows everything,but everyone knows something

no one owns any particular thing,but everyone owns everything

Competition from within?

the argument for free culturealways needs to include

FREEDOM!

•Title picture “Fight on snow” from http://www.f lickr.com/photos/63766699@N00/2257011693 by Suneko, licensed CC-BY-SA.•Logos and screenshots © respective owners•Globe from http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Globe_Eurasia.svg by Ssolbergj, licensed GFDL•Map of China from http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Blank_map_of_china.svg by historicair, licensed CC-BY-SA•Graph of Chinese Wikipedia block from "Group Size and Incentives to Contribute: A Natural Experiment at Chinese Wikipedia" by Xiaoquan (Michael) Zhang and Feng Zhu, published in the American Economic Review.•Chinese encyclopedia images public domain, from Wikimedia Commons•Nobel image from http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Alfred_Nobel_mirrored.png by Aushulz, released into the public domain•WikiReader photos from http://www.f lickr.com/photos/pfctdayelise/sets/72157625071914527/ by me :) licensed CC-BY-SA•Protective vest icon from http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:D-M015.svg by Epop, released into the public domain•Wikipe-tan with Chinese 'welcome' sign from http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Wikipe-tan_holding_a_welcome_sign_cropped_%28simplified_chinese_version%29.png by Leon3289, licensed CC-BY-SA.•PediaPress book stack from http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Pedia-bunch-2.jpg by Notafish, licensed CC-BY-SA.• Riot drawing public domain, from Wikimedia Commons

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[[user:pfctdayelise]](but you can call me 罗碧琴 :))

brianna.laugher.id.au/blog/

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