User talk:Jasper Deng/The outsider's view
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Our culture[edit]
This section "we are totally volunteers (with the exception of a few people who are foundation staff), and rely on donations" may be misread as implying that the volunteers rely on the donations,and may need to be reworded. Dru of Id (talk) 10:38, 25 April 2011 (UTC)
Feedback[edit]
I looked at your essay and while it contains some good points, I don't agree with all of your arguments.
Firstly, I believe that Wikipedia is not as "popular" as Facebook largely due to the amount of work that is needed in maintaining the former. The latter is something people do to burn time. Practically everyone knows about both sites. But, on Facebook, it is much easier (and sometimes appropriate) to type non-existent words like "cuz" and "thx" and "l0l".
Secondly, people are lazy. They are not going to want to spend their time trying to edit this site. It's a shame, really. They also are too lazy to type out "real" words, and thus, trying to test their grammar skills is not something many would do for fun.
Additionally, Wikipedia is not a very social site by design. Your replies from people often depend on their ability to see messages, and their regularity in signing in. Most of the time, you are talking to no one. You have to wait for them. But, I prefer this set up. If there was real-time chatting, people would just spam it up or talk about non-essential topics.
I don't also think that people are that turned off by Wikipedia's policies. I think people don't participate in Wikipedia probably because it's perceived to be uninteresting. I find Wikipedia particularly interesting when I am cleaning up a troll's destruction to a page. It is difficult for me to find work on an article that a troll mutilated that nobody knows.
I do think that your point that Wikipedia's different features are confusing and difficult for many users is correct. I know for a fact that I am not familiar with all of Wikipedia's "features", like using talkback tags. I always have to look up what tags to use or how to use them in any given situation. These are a hindrance for sure, but they are not a reason why I go on Wikipedia edits infrequently.
That being said, your essay is well-written and seemingly free of grammatical errors. Hats off to you!