Wikipedia contributors are motivated by a desire to give back, make a difference, and share their passions. They include everyday people from all walks of life as well as experts in various fields. Contributors are driven more by intrinsic motivations like love of knowledge and a sense of purpose rather than financial incentives. Their work is seen as trustworthy due to this lack of monetary motivation. However, some stereotypes portray contributors negatively as socially isolated "nerds" obsessed with details.
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Antin my kind of people (clean)
2. ¡°I WOULD NEVER JOIN A CLUB THAT WOULD HAVE ME AS A MEMBER.¡± - GROUCHO MARX
8. ¡°There are some people who write about really local things that they¡¯re passionate about. Like my neighbor. . . she was really into how Northern California tried to become its own state. . . She had really no forum to share this with the world. . . and then we told her about Wikipedia.¡±- Maria (mid 20s, public health worker)
11. ¡°Do you think Wikipedia would be different if people got paid?¡±¡°Oh yeah, I think there¡¯d be a lot of bullshit in there. I think people would just throw a lot of stuff in there thinking, ¡®I¡¯m getting paid so it really doesn¡¯t matter what I¡¯m putting down!¡¯ [The way it is now] I think people really put their heart and soul into it because they like doing it.¡± - Donald (60s, retired truck driver)
15. ¡°. . . just everyday people. . . we¡¯ve got our geniuses, or lawyers, or scientists, or you, or journalists, or me. I¡¯m just an old man who doesn¡¯t know much but I know a little bit.¡±- Donald (mid 60s, retired truck driver)
16. ¡°. . . for every little thing on the internet there¡¯s somebody out there. There¡¯s somebody sitting in Birmingham or Belize, wherever. . . [or fixing] punctuation is what they were born to give. And by God, I¡¯m going to let them have it. Why do I need to eat off their plate? I¡¯ve got a thing about rivers in Iowa.¡±- Russell (40s, probation officer)
20. ¡°I¡¯m sure they¡¯re locked up in a room. . . And Wikipedia is the ultimate thing for them. . . people in their room alone, playing World of Warcraft and things like that.¡± ¨C Lee (20, college student)¡°Maybe they¡¯re home-bound people, or people who have no life. . . ¡± ¨C Roger (50s, rock photographer)
21. ¡°. . . a bunch of nerds sitting around updating things every second. . . the nerdy technical guy sitting around in his mother¡¯s basement. . . ¡± ¨C Neil (20s, office worker)¡°There are people that live for [Wikipedia]. . . I imagine them sitting on a chair in their boxer shorts with a catheter and a feeding tube.¡± ¨C Russell (40s, probation officer)
26. THANKS!AcknowledgmentsCoye Cheshire Elizabeth F. Churchill Jenna Burrell Anonymous ReviewersThis research was supported in part by a grant from the Institute of Business and Economic Research (IBER) at UC Berkeley.