Conflicts in Wikipedia article on "anarchism" now modelled by statistical physicists
Information and communication technology has enabled us to solve complex problems in collaboration across the world. Everything from wiki-based platforms to open software development all the way to the experiments in CERN has benefited from advances in ICT. Not only have unprecedented forms of synergy emerged, but also inevitable clashes of opinions between large numbers of individuals.
Conflicts in Wikipedia now modelled by statistical physicists
February 20, 2013
Physorg
Information and communication technology has enabled us to solve complex problems in collaboration across the world. Everything from wiki-based platforms to open software development all the way to the experiments in CERN has benefited from advances in ICT. Not only have unprecedented forms of synergy emerged, but also inevitable clashes of opinions between large numbers of individuals.
Physicists in Aalto University Department of Biomedical Engineering and Computational Science have succeeded in mathematically modelling the dynamics of the birth and persistence of conflicts and their resolution in the online encyclopaedia Wikipedia. The article presenting the study has now been published in the journal Physical Review Letters.
How Wikipedia editors dissent and come together
The group's model describes the spontaneous dynamics of the clashes of opinions in Wikipedia in three types of scenarios. Firstly, it shows how the increasing number of new editors to an article gives rise to controversy. The model also accounts for different levels of tolerance in editors' sensitivity towards certain topics. Moreover, it captures states of uninterrupted controversy where sensitive contributors cannot stand even small deviations from their opinions.
