WikiConference India 2011/Submissions/Wikipedia and Social Media. How to increase the utility and prominence of Wikipedia using Social Media

Timestamp

00:58, 30 August 2011 (UTC)

Title of the submission

Wikipedia and Social Media - How to increase the utility and prominence of Wikipedia using Social Media

Type of submission (workshop, tutorial, or presentation)

workshop cum presentation

Author of the submission

Adethya Sudarsanan (wiki user name : adethya)

E-mail address or username (if username, please confirm email address in Special:Preferences)

adethyasjce@gmail.com

State of your origin (Country, if you are not based in India)

Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India

Affiliation, if any (organization, company etc.)

Cognizant Technology Solutions India Pvt. Ltd.

Personal homepage or blog

Nil

Abstract (maximum 500 words)

Wikipedia is the fastest growing information platform in the world. It is the primary information reference site for over 41.4% of the users. Social media on the other hand is gaining prominence across the internet. Every transaction made across the web has some close knit connection with social media. This implies that social media is an effective tool for carrying information across the world wide web. Using this ideology, we can significantly improve Wikipedia’s presence among the internet users. The main aim is to develop a link between networking websites like Facebook, Orkut, Twitter etc., and Wikipedia. This link is established by creating a plugin, which will act as the communication channel between the two websites. The plugin works as follows,

Profile creation : a user creates a profile in Facebook and Wikipedia.

FB-Wiki Update : When there is an update related to Wikipedia by that user, its reflected on his/her facebook profile page. In addition to this, there is also a small update in his Wikipedia page. Through this update process, we are sending information to other facebook & Wikipedia users that an article has been read by that person. We are planning to have a pop up asking his permission to share this update or not.

For e.g. If a person who has profiles in both Wikipedia & Facebook is reading an article on “Wikipedia Statistics”, the same is updated on his facebook and Wikipedia profile pages, with his permission

Forming student/user groups : In case, there are are group of users, who are interested in a particular topic/article. These people can be form a user/student group. When an article related to that group is being read in Wikipedia, an update is made in the page of the person who read it. In this way, the group is informed about the progresses each person is taking and it gives other an opportunity to update on what others have learnt.

Student groups can be formed in cooperation with universities & schools. The idea of student group is to share necessary information across a student group. Lets assume, there is a student group in a Harvard University, majoring in Psychology. Then either the professor or a student (who is taking responsibility) can create a profile for the group in Facebook and Wikipedia. As and when there is an article read related to Psychology, the same is shared in the facebook and Wikipedia profile pages of the group after asking for a pop up permission.

This will certainly enhance the use of Wikipedia among the student community. This will also contribute significantly to the growth and web presence of Wikipedia across all people in the world. Similar groups can be created for organizations, retail outlets, and almost every line of business can be incorporated into this strategy.

A detailed survey has been conducted to arrive at this conclusion. The same will be shared if this proposal is selected for presentation at Wiki Conference India 2011.

Track (Community/Knowledge/Outreach/Technology)

Technology and knowledge

Will you attend Wikiconference if your submission is not accepted?

Yes

Slides or further information (optional)

The development of this plugin is under construction. The UI and the coding part is partially completed.