Individualized: Informal and self-directed learning

Institutionalized: Collective and formal structure to provide a uniform set of experiences
 - Gives new users a sense of belonging and a role, clarity, and self-efficacy


Individualized vs. Institutionalized Socialization Tactics

Wikipedia relies on individualized socialization: newcomers learn its norms and policies by consulting help and policy pages, asking experienced members for help or feedback, and interpreting warning or advisory messages about practices to avoid.

University of Michigan - Ann Arbor

Google

Wikipedia launched an interactive tutorial that has both a structure and video game elements that helps new editors get accustomed to Wikipedia's technical requirements and rules/policies

The Wikipedia Adventure (TWA): Field Evaluation of an Interactive Tutorial for New Users

A user who has recently joined an online community

Newcomers in Online Communities

Purpose:
- How new users perceive the system design and tone (via survey~11,000 editors)
- If using TWA led to making more contributions prior to being invited to participate in the tutorial (via field experiment~1,967 editors)

Results:
- From the survey, users found TWA engaging and well-designed for new users.
- Even though new users say that TWA is very useful and helps new editors, the results from the field experiment report that TWA did not effect editing contributions)


Purpose and Summary of Results

- Points
- Leaderboards
- Achievements/ Badges
- Levels
- Stories/Themes
- Clear goals
- Feedback
- Rewards
- Progress
- Challenges


10 Common Motivational Affordances of Gamified Systems (Hamari, et al.)

Having a dedicated space for new users to make contributions without being penalized for mistakes

Creating Spaces for New Users to Practice Making Contributions

University, Sneha Narayan Northwestern, et al. “The Wikipedia Adventure: Field Evaluation of an Interactive Tutorial for New Users.” The Wikipedia Adventure | Proceedings of the 2017 ACM Conference on Computer Supported Cooperative Work and Social Computing, 1 Feb. 2017, https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/2998181.2998307

The Wikipedia Adventure: Field Evaluation of an Interactive Tutorial for New Users

Without structured guidance about Wikipedia's contribution rules, newcomers may develop their own contribution practices, and those practices may persist over time.

Lack of Structured Guidance Leads Wikipedia Newcomers to Develop Their Own Contribution Practices

1. Recruitment
2. Selection
3. Retention
4. Socialization
5. Protection

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