Should You Believe Wikipedia?
Online Communities and the Construction of Knowledge

Our online interactions create new forms of community and knowledge, reshaping who we are as individuals and as a society.

Amy S. Bruckman (Author)

9781108748407, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 3 February 2022

272 pages
19.7 x 12.8 x 1.5 cm, 0.31 kg

'… Amy Bruckman essentially brings together her thinking on the potential in social creation of knowledge, pitfalls to watch out for, ways to invent through online resources, and developers' responsibilities … [It] will enlighten general readers who have seen none of the dozens of books and articles recently published on peer communities.' Avon J. Murphy, Society for Technical Communication

As we interact online we are creating new kinds of knowledge and community. How are these communities formed? How do we know whether to trust them as sources of information? In other words, Should we believe Wikipedia? This book explores what community is, what knowledge is, how the internet facilitates new kinds of community, and how knowledge is shaped through online collaboration and conversation. Along the way the author tackles issues such as how we represent ourselves online and how this shapes how we interact, why there is so much bad behavior online and what we can do about it. And the most important question of all: What can we as internet users and designers do to help the internet to bring out the best in us all?

Acknowledgments
Introduction
1. Are online “communities” really communities?
2. What can online collaboration accomplish?
3. Should you believe Wikipedia?
4. How does the internet change how we think?
5. How do people express identity online, and why is this important for online interaction?
6. What is bad online behavior, and what can we do about it?
7. How do business models shape online communities?
8. How can we help the internet to bring out the best in us all?

Subject Areas: Internet searching [UDBD], Ethical & social aspects of IT [UBJ], Knowledge management [KJMV3], Cognition & cognitive psychology [JMR]