Commercialization of wikis

Posted by Angela Beesley on March 12, 2007 (Wiki, Wikia)

If Liz Henry’s notes are anything to go by, Evan Prodromou gave an interesting talk at SXSW this weekend on the commercialization of wikis. He apparently said that the wikisphere needs a healthy ecology. I’m guessing the implication was that the commercialization of wikis could provide that.

Evan defined four types of wiki businesses and I was so happy to see Wikia in with wikiHow and Wikitravel and not the sites people usually think of as Wikia’s competitors. Unlike simply providing a hosting service, Wikia focuses on particular topics and on “managing the wiki itself and developing its culture and community”.

The four types Evan defines are service provider, content hosting, consulting, and content development. I actually Wikia has elements of all of these, and more… there are surely more than four types.  I’ve started a page on my wiki to list some more.

Here’s Evan advice for commercial wiki companies (which could actually apply to anything and anyone):

  1. Have a noble purpose.
  2. Demonstrate value.
  3. Be transparent.
  4. Extract value where you provide value.
  5. Set boundaries.
  6. Be personally involved.
  7. Run with the right crowd.

I must remember never to use the word “crowdsourcing“. Here’s one of Evan’s slides: Crowdsourcing = suckers

See types of wiki businesses to help define these.

5 Comments

  1. Evan Prodromou said,

    March 13, 2007 at 20:45

    Hi, Angela! I think a podcast of the talk is going to be on the SXSW site soon; watch here: http://2007.sxsw.com/coverage/podcasts/ .

    My point about a “healthy ecology” is that diverse ways of supporting wikis is probably good for the entire wikisphere. Commercial projects are going to develop in different ways than personal or non-profit projects; everybody gets a chance to learn from each other. A monolithic wiki world — with only Wikimedia wikis, for example — wouldn’t have as much innovation or development. It just wouldn’t be as fun.

  2. WikiAngela » Why openness matters and new wiki magazines said,

    March 13, 2007 at 21:14

    […] Also at SXSW: Evan Prodromou on the commercialization of wikis. […]

  3. Jon said,

    March 15, 2007 at 21:01

    Angela,

    Interesting post!

    I’m always curious how “commercialized” wikis are percieved by the wiki world. Sometimes I wonder if any Wikipedians regard sites like ValueWiki and Wikia as sellouts for profiting off opensource software. Are we growing fat earning our ad clicks off the backs of unpaid writers? Or are we simply providing a useful free service that our members happily appreciate?

    Has Wikia ever encountered any static from the MediaWiki community for running ads and going for-profit?

    I do feel ValueWiki is developing faster being for-profit. Wikipedian democracy is often a very slow process!

    On the other hand, Wikipedia obviously benefits from a great communal sense of common purpose. People feel greater attachment to a community they directly control. I wonder if it’s a little trickier to cultivate this feeling in a for-profit Wiki.

    How do we get past this?

    Do we lose our “street cred” by being for-profit? Would be curious to know how/if these issues affect Wikia.

    Jon

    P.S. - I wonder if “commercialized Wikis” would be a useful discussion group at Wikimania?

  4. Angela Beesley said,

    March 15, 2007 at 21:17

    I think there was enough commercialization of open source software already that people understand it’s ok to make a profit from this. I hope that users find value in what sites like Wikia are providing even though that service is supported by advertising. I expect they wouldn’t be writing there otherwise, and they certainly have alternative options if they do object. We try to discourage a sense of individual ownership of Wikia wikis and instead promote the idea that every wiki is community owned since it’s that community who determines the content and policies for their own sites, and I think that helps.

    “Commercialized Wikis” would be a useful discussion, though it might not be formally accepted as one for Wikimania since we’re trying to move the focus back to Wikimedia projects this year as opposed to wikis in general. Instead, I’d suggest either an unofficial off-schedule discussion at Wikimania, or something at the other wiki conference, WikiSym.

  5. David Gerard » Blog Archive » Wikimedia UK. said,

    May 1, 2007 at 17:48

    […] Never use the word "crowdsourcing." (courtesy Angela) […]