English: In this talk presented at Wikimania 2021, I develop a theory of "WikiBreathing" based on the historical records of three wikis: Ward's Wiki, MeatBall, and Wikipedia. WikiBreathing was first documented on MeatBall as a model for understanding how participants on Ward's Wiki responded to increased attention. Many wikis saw increased engagement from cultural outsiders and bad faith actors which resulted in the wikis "breathing out" by repelling new contributors through technological means before "breathing in" and gradually opening themselves up to new contributors again. Using the English Wikipedia as a case study, I reframe the concept of WikiBreathing by analyzing how readers and editors respond when seven articles are opened to public editing for the first time in 11 years.
to share – to copy, distribute and transmit the work
to remix – to adapt the work
Under the following conditions:
attribution – You must give appropriate credit, provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made. You may do so in any reasonable manner, but not in any way that suggests the licensor endorses you or your use.
share alike – If you remix, transform, or build upon the material, you must distribute your contributions under the same or compatible license as the original.