wikis & wikipedia new media life cycle analysis

New Media Life Cycle Analysis™ September 9, 2009

tippingpointlabs.com 1.

The WikiAnalysts: Andrew M. Davis, Brad Schwarzenbach

Inside This ReportEach week, the analysts at Tippingpoint Labs release a New Media Life Cycle™ report designed to help marketing professionals understand the new media landscape.

These reports use empirical data and a sound methodology to help ad agencies, PR firms, marketing consultants, interactive agencies and chief marketing officers make educated and informed new media decisions.

Each report looks at the quality of the content on a channel, the state of the medium, an analysis of the life cycle and the audiences participating on the platform, the key forces shaping the channel, a forecast for the channel’s future and sound content recommendations for participating by adding value. ■

Table of Contents1. Channel Overview2. Resource Analysis3. Forecast Analysis4. Key Forces5. Content Potential6. Medium Overview7. Phase Analysis8. Recommendations9. Appendix

Looking at Wikipedia and beyond this Tippingpoint Labs New Media Life Cycle Analysis considers the future of the crowd-sourced platforms, potential monetiza-tion strategies, and offers key recommendations for enterprise application and implementation.

New Media Life Cycle Analysis™ August 12, 2009


According to the New York Times, Wikipedia is one of the top five most visited websites in the world. With more than 330 million readers and three million English articles it is certainly one of the deepest resources on the Internet.

If you’re unfamiliar with Wikipedia, it is a free, web-based collaborative encyclopedia. Basically, users (volunteers) from around the world add and edit content on any topic and, as a group, validate or delete content

deemed irrelevant, inaccurate or incorrectly sourced.

Wikipedia launched in 2001 and is the brainchild of Jimmy Wales and Larry Sanger. Today, Wikipedia is the “largest and most popular general reference work on the internet.” (Wikipedia entry for Wikipedia.)

Wikipedia, however, was not the first wiki ever created.

WikiWikiWeb was created by Ward Cunningham in 1994 as a way to quickly edit or comment on another’s content on the Internet.

It wasn’t until Wikipedia’s launch that wikis began their slow and steady rise to mainstream adoption.

The success of Wikipedia (or any wiki for that matter) is directly tied to the passion and activity of a small subset of users who actually contribute and edit content. Even Wikipedia with only 500,000 contributors demonstrates that in even the most popular wiki in the world, less than .10% of all users actively participate. ■

Channel Overview

Wikipedia Popularizes a Platform & Concept

Powering the Wiki Phenomenon

MediaWiki is a free and open source software solution originally designed to power Wikipedia.

MediaWiki can be deployed on a server allowing any organization to begin generating crowd-sourced content.

Since its introduction, MediaWiki has been installed on websites around the world.

MediaWiki isn’t the only free wiki software solution. There are literally hundreds of different wiki platforms available today.■

Analysts: Andrew M. Davis, Brad Schwarzenbach



Wikipedia has risen to prominence as the definitive resource of general knowledge on the internet de-spite persistent skepticism in the scholastic commu-nity regarding its accuracy and community-driven content development model. The wiki model of col-laboration easily enables community participation but this also leaves a channel open to manipulation and misuse. And, as Wikipedia has seen, it falls short of being regarded as a valid scholarly research tool as many articles don't meet the rigorous fact-checking standards of established research tools such as Ency-clopedia Britannica.

If you can't beat 'em...

Britannica enjoys the esteem and regard of the intel-lectual community as a reviewed and acceptable re-search tool and makes portions of its content avail-able online. However, the Britannica channel only makes all of its content available under a subscription model. Further, it's littered with text and graphical ads. In fact, in response to the Wikipedia hegemony as the Internet's reference guide, in June 2008 Bri-tannica announced that it would open the content on Britannica.com to community edits, just like Wikipedia. Their copycat efforts have been for naught though as Wikipedia's traffic was roughly 43 times greater in July 2009.

Community-driven content can work

Wikis have established themselves as a great model for the aggregation of general knowledge, Wikipedia being the best example. The LyricWiki is another example of a community-generated repository of in-formation, this time for song lyrics. The inherent value in the model is that it enables engaged users to create a resource that, historically, one would have to pay for. Instead now, using crowd-sourced data, it can be created and distributed for free. Accuracy, which historically hasn't been viewed by the communities as a huge issue, will become one if a wiki is to be con-sidered as a truly scholarly resource.

Participating On Wikipedia

If you plan on participating on Wikipedia, you must learn their process for validating, editing, sourcing and deleting content. In addition, you must get ac-quainted with their wiki markup language. This is no easy task.

We recommend you choose an area in which you can add value on Wikipedia - somewhere where you would be considered an expert. Start by editing or updating or even challenging an article’s content. If you plan on creating a new page (or topic) start by copying an existing topic page similar in format to the one you plan on creating.

Launch the topic and make sure you stay on top of any challenges or deletion requests defending your topic. This is very difficult and time consuming (which is one of the reasons participation rates on Wikipedia are so low). ■

Resource Analysis

Wikipedia Proves Valuable Despite Concerns



Wikis as a PlatformThe BenefitsMoving forward, the wiki model of collaboration will become beneficial and valuable for large organiza-tions to deploy both internally and customer-facing.They represent a scalable solution for the aggrega-tion of valued corporate information that is easily edited, updated, and maintained by a multitude of users. They can encourage inter-departmental com-munication and cooperation by providing transpar-ency into roles and processes.The IssuesHowever, wikis as they exist today, are a poor solu-tion for these needs. Wiki solutions in the future will need to be streamlined, with more accessible user interfaces designed for all levels of technological ex-pertise. They will need to be developed with enter-prise application in mind.The Outlook

Microsoft’s SharePoint and even the open source blogging platform, WordPress, have implemented

many of the features and functions found in a func-tional wiki. With much more accessible interfaces and functions we will see more successful platforms integrating and offering wiki functionality.WikipediaThe future of Wikipedia needs to be a product of its goal. Here are two potential future paths:

1. Become an authoritative scholarly resource2.Remain focused on building article volume

The quality versus quantity argument. Or, as defined by The Economist in March 2008, Wikipedia Dele-tionists versus Inclusionists. The pros and cons of each are obvious and conflicting. The former flies in the face of the Wikipedia's claim that it's the "encyclopedia anyone can edit" and will shift focus away from knowledge aggregation and onto validating all edits made. This will also effec-tively limit the growth of new articles.As for the latter, quality issues will continue as re-sources have to remain focused on scalability issues and community monitoring. While this will effec-tively result in a lower quality of content, it will con-tinue the growth of the channel in terms of volume and breadth of knowledge.However, ultimately, considering the existing size of the channel and the VERY small percentage of peo-ple who actually contribute content, coupled with a slowing of volume growth in the major Wikipedia channels (English & German), expect the Deletionist viewpoint to win out. The decision to follow this model will allow Wikipedia to move into the Con-solidation phase of its life cycle and allow it to build the overall quality of their existing content.Furthermore, Wikipedia must settle on a sustainable revenue model. Without this, its longevity as a worldwide resource is uncertain. ■

Forecast Analysis

Wiki Functionality Emerges in Other Easier-to-use Platforms

A wiki theme and plug-ins developed to turn Word-press into a fu"y functional wiki.



The Four Key Forces

There are four main key forces that act on any new channel as it moves through its phases in the New Media Life Cycle™. These forces are expressed as Ex-posure, Momentum, User Pressure and Competitive Threats.

User Pressure

In terms of usability, wikis as a category have largely fallen flat. Wikis are constantly thought of as ‘geek-centric’ tools, requiring ‘coding knowledge’ and an un-derstanding of backend functionality. For Wikipedia and wikis in general to see growth and wider adoption, new users will need to see usable features and func-tions emerge that allow for higher participation rates.

Exposure

Wikipedia, almost single-handedly helped drive the notion that user-generated content can be valuable, credible and crowd-sourced effectively. In addition, the exposure Wikipedia garnered in the early phases of its evolution helped define the wiki platform. This expo-

sure has created a set of connotations for any wiki pro-vider that must focus on redefining the platform as easy-to-use, in the form of easily-managed informa-tion, agile content organization, and low-barrier tools to allow users to more frequently contribute.

Momentum

Wikis are stuck in the monetization phase, where companies like DekiWiki, who offer an open source solution are hoping to capitalize by selling service and support agreements for their software. Hosted solu-tions, like Zoho’s wiki are charging users for access to the tools. Wikipedia, is working to drive donations to support its growth. Until corporations see the value in using a wiki, momentum for deploying wiki solutions will remain slow.

Competitive Threats

There is a lot of competition in the wiki market. Without a clear monetization model and corporate use case, competitors will continually emerge, offering slight variations on the basic notion of a wiki platform.■

Key Forces

User Engagement & Momentum Focus on Usability

Platform Growth(Momentum)

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Content Potential

The creation of frequent, high-quality, relevant con-tent on any wiki is crucial to its long term growth and sustainability.

The 1% Rule

Remember, no matter how successful a wiki is, only 1% of the entire audience for your content will par-ticipate in the generation or validation of the con-tent you create. This means that the user experience must be accessible and easy.

Too Many Pages No Structure

Creating aesthetically pleasing, well-formatted, organized content is also part of a user’s experience in generating or consuming content on a wiki. Wikipedia, with its intense focus on using search as the starting point for navigation is the most success-ful wiki organization model. Other platforms at-tempt to provide users with a navigation menu that can result in hundreds of disorganized pages, unless well-managed by content editors. ■

Wiki Content Organization & Creation Tools Stifle Deployment & Management

This Wikipedia editing interface is indicative of how inaccessible wiki functionality is to a new user.

Even DekiWiki, one of the more user-#iendly wiki so-lutions on the market is difficult to navigate and organ-ize content.



It is very common to see the deployment and wide acceptance of a specific channel like Wikipedia far outpace the adoption for a new platform like wikis. However, the growth and long term sustainability of a channel like Wikipedia is closely tied to the wide adoption and acceptance of the platform (wikis.)

As wikis enter the monetization phase they are faced with the fact that Wikipedia has never successfully monetized their channel. In 2006 articles began ap-pearing online questioning Wikipedia’s ability to monetize. Everything from micro payments to dona-tions and even advertising were floated as potential revenue streams.

While corporations have been slow to adopt wikis as a collaborative way to capture and organize informa-tion, the proliferation of new wiki platforms has grown exponentially. (See WikiMatrix.org for an ex-haustive list and comparison tool.)

Even open source platforms like WordPress have been customized by users to mirror some of the main features usually reserved for wikis.

Wikipedia, running a wiki platform called Me-diaWiki requires users to understand, learn and use a wiki mark-up language very similar to HTML. This barrier to entry has kept their contributor user base low. Although MediaWiki has included a rudimen-tary WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get) edi-tor, the process of editing a wiki entry has largely been reserved for those willing to devote a large amount of time and energy to learning the tools and processes involved.

Channels like Zoho have released wiki functionality as part of a large suite of ‘enterprise-ready’ tools and are asking users to pay a monthly fee for access. Other open source platforms like DekiWiki are sell-ing support and enterprise-level services attached to their open source platform.■

Medium Overview

Wikis in Monetization Phase: Struggle With Wider Deployment Issues

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Life Cycle Analysis: Wiki (Search share)

The life cycle analysis above showcases the slow adoption of the wiki as a platform. While Wikipedia helped users around the world understand the value of crowd sourcing the creation of content, the deployment of wiki solutions has slowly progressed through a prolonged escalation phase.

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Wikpedia’s life cycle analysis showcases some of the challenges facing the deployment of any wiki. As pointed out in a New York Times blog entry on August 29, 2009, (http://tr.im/NYTwiki) during the escalation phase of the channel, a tremendous amount of new content was added by about 300,000 users.

By 2009, the creation of new content has slowed and the number of authors participating has only grown to 500,000. As their momentum has slowed, so has their ability to maintain and human edit the content created for the channel.

The main issue, in our opinion, is that the tools (wiki markup and rudimentary WYSIWYG editor) used to create, edit and maintain content are inaccessible to the vast majority of the potential user base. In ad-

dition, the process for validating, referencing and sourcing legitimate content is largely monitored by a small group of ‘super-users’ who control the deletion and detection of invalid content. This convoluted process has discouraged a large portion of new users from participating on the channel.

Wikipedia is largely maintained by a population of male contributors. Look for a new generation of younger female participants to help shape the con-tent creation and validation process.■

Phase Analysis

Channel Momentum Slows; Wider Participation Required

Wikipedia

Life Cycle Analysis: Wikipedia (Search share)

Since late 2006, Wikipedia has struggled with monetizing their platform in a sustainable way. In addition to their monetization attempts, Wikipedia’s ability to increase the number of people participating by adding or editing content has been severely limited.

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Wikis are a valuable tool. The concept of using a community to crowd-source the creation of valuable, high-quality content has been proven on platforms like Wikipedia.That being said, wikis have a long way to go as a platform. Here are three keys to creating, man-aging and sustaining a valuable wiki.Large Participation RatesIn order for a wiki to be successful and sustain-able you must make sure that the edit features and functions are accessible and easy to use. Your user base must feel the barrier to adding or editing content is low. Without an easy-to-use interface, your wiki will not succeed.Organizationally ChallengedWikis are inherently organizational nightmares. In order to create an easy-to-navigate wiki you must focus on using search as the central form of navigation. The amorphous nature of the content makes any other form of navigation use-less or, at least, prohibitively difficult.Evolution CurveIn the early stages a new wiki undergoes a huge transformation while the initial set of baseline content is created. After this, content genera-tion is slow, unless it is made an integral part of the corporate or user culture. Be weary of the initial success of any new wiki. Wikis are famous for becoming relics on your server.

Recommendations By RoleMarketing ExecutivesIf you are considering the implementation of a wiki for internal or external use, we recommend you steer clear of any wiki-specific platform (i.e. MediaWiki). These platforms have proven to be difficult to use, hard to adopt and even more challenging to manage. Options like the Word-press Wiki theme (and the additional plug-ins)

will prove to be far more valuable to a broad user base.Venture Capitalists & InvestorsWe believe there is a tremendous opportunity to invest in the creation and release of a search-based wiki platform for corporate and/or cus-tomer knowledge creation and sharing. How-ever, investors should look for existing platforms on which wiki functionality can be added or in-cluded. Even re-packaging an existing content management system as a secure wiki solution should be considered.Technology EntrepreneursNative WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get) editing and adding functionality will be core to the successful creation and deployment of any new wiki platform. Removing the urge to create a central navigation and organization schema will make any new wiki platform more successful. However, automatic interlinking of articles and dynamically generated tables of con-tent will be sufficient for even the largest scale deployments.Content CreatorsWikis are a valuable asset for the capturing of high-quality domain knowledge. Getting famil-iar with the adding and editing functionality on a wide-variety of wiki platfroms is recom-mended. In addition, participating as a content expert on Wikipedia is a great way to increase your value within the wiki community. Partici-pating on Wikipedia is not easy, but understand-ing their approval and deletion methods should be considered part of your content strategy. ■

Recommendations

Wikis as a Collaboration Knowledge Base



Glossary

AppendixTerminology Medium - A form of communication. Example: Blo&ing or video on demand.Platform - a framework for a medium’s application. Example: The iPhone is a platform for the mobile application medium. Wordpress is a platform for blo&ing. Channel - The service provider of a medium. Example: Scribd is a channel for document sharing. Blo&er.com is a channel for blo&ing.Content - Medium expression. Example: A blog post is content delivered through the blo&ing medium.

About Tippingpoint LabsTippingpoint Labs is an online content creation agency with one focus: to create and distribute high quality, frequently distributed, relevant branded content for its clients.

The Tippingpoint editorial staff, multi-media production team and the research analysts strive to develop a deeper understanding of the entire web universe, not just Facebook or Twitter.

Tippingpoint has helped clients like Breville, TomTom and Putnam Investments increase sales and reduce costs by creating content that resonates with their clients’ audience.

We believe in the transformative power of a new media strategy built around valuable content designed to reach a specific audience. Do you feel the same way?

Contact Scott Loring, our Managing Director, at 617.332.8261.

The New Media Life CycleThe New Media Life Cycle™ is the brain child of Tippingpoint Labs Chief Strategist, Andrew Davis. It is a framework for analyzing new media with an emphasis on quality of content, user adoption and demographic migration. The New Media Life Cycle™ Analysis is designed to put any given subject (a channel, platform or medium) in context with the larger new media landscape.

Designed specifically for Chief Marketing Officers and marketing executives, the life cycle analysis is designed to help quickly and effectively understand the new media landscape.

wikis & wikipedia new media life cycle analysis

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