Dariusz Jemielniak
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- September 2014
- ISBN:
- 9780804789448
- eISBN:
- 9780804791205
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Stanford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.11126/stanford/9780804789448.003.0006
- Subject:
- Business and Management, Organization Studies
This chapter delves into a puzzle: How can a community that is so strict in terms of procedures and rules be so lax in terms of verification of credentials? A case study of a major scandal on ...
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This chapter delves into a puzzle: How can a community that is so strict in terms of procedures and rules be so lax in terms of verification of credentials? A case study of a major scandal on Wikipedia (i.e., a well-known Wikipedian claiming to be a professor but turning out to be an impostor) shows that the Wikipedia community does not care much about true identities or credentials for a reason: the possibility of building one's credibility only within the community, irrespective of real-world status, encourages nonexperts to participate. However, this process naturally results in lower interpersonal trust, which the community addresses by substituting trust in procedures for trust in people.Less
This chapter delves into a puzzle: How can a community that is so strict in terms of procedures and rules be so lax in terms of verification of credentials? A case study of a major scandal on Wikipedia (i.e., a well-known Wikipedian claiming to be a professor but turning out to be an impostor) shows that the Wikipedia community does not care much about true identities or credentials for a reason: the possibility of building one's credibility only within the community, irrespective of real-world status, encourages nonexperts to participate. However, this process naturally results in lower interpersonal trust, which the community addresses by substituting trust in procedures for trust in people.
