Have you ever had to motivate the team? What was the result? The English language Wikipedia is notable for its large number of articles. However, 288 other active language editions of Wikipedia have also developed through the intricate interactions of contributing editors. While the editor interactions in the English Wikipedia have been researched extensively, these other language editions remain understudied. To understand how editors currently come to consensus in article building in the French language, a team of researchers has leveraged an existing English framework that depicts how power and policies play a role in mass collaboration. Using this English language framework, we are using qualitative coding methods to build a unique model of the editor interactions on the French language Wikipedia. The results of this study will help contribute to a deeper understanding of how a framework in a different language edition of Wikipedia differs from the English. Our preliminary results show that policy plays a large role in justifying editor decisions for the edits they make on various articles. Furthermore, our research findings have expanded our knowledge of the issues surrounding replication of an English framework in a different language platform.

The English language Wikipedia is notable for its large number of articles. The development of this online encyclopedia would not be possible without the intricate interactions of editors that help sustain the virtual collaborative platform. Editors have a role in creating and reshaping articles and therefore have a role in how Wikipedia evolves over time. Our study replicates a qualitative coding scheme created over 12 years ago that demonstrates that policy and power play a role in mass collaboration. The prior work shows that user interactions including collaboration, conflict, coercion, and consensus have influenced changes on Wikipedia articles. A team of researchers are currently working to replicate this qualitative coding scheme on English Wikipedia talk pages to understand how these different types of user interactions occur in current editor discussions around article construction. Our findings will help contribute to a deeper understanding of how power plays between users have changed since the initial study. Our preliminary results, show that editor debates often lead to questions around article scope and legitimacy of sources. Furthermore, while policies play a large role in article building, editors own opinions influence how editing occurs.