Christine (WMF)

Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world.

Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.

-- Margaret Mead

Who I Am

I work in Reader Relations for the Wikimedia Foundation. I have a background in online community management, and am currently a Master's candidate at San Jose State University in Applied anthropology. My thesis topic revolves around stakeholder relations in Web 2.0, using LiveJournal as my fieldsite. I am analyzing how communications occur, how they break down, and where the failures in communication occur. I hope to use this information to be able to assist organizations with interfacing better with their online communities; not seeing them as simple consumers to be sold a product to, but instead as partners and true stakeholders in their operations.

My volunteer account is Kethryvis, which I use sporadically usually on small edits on interesting subjects that generally have nothing to do with my scholarly interests. It's what keeps me sane.

I also have an alternate account, Kheff in order to see what the registration process is like for new editors. This account will make few, if any, edits and will be abandoned once this research is complete.

If you'd like to find me on IRC, I hang out under the nick ChristineM. Very original, I know.

You can email me with any questions or comments to readerswikimedia.org

What I'm Thinking About

I'm thinking about how to make the new editor process easier. I'm fairly new at editing myself, and it's rather daunting. There's an awful lot to wade through. There's gotta be an easier way! (one of my mantras)

I'm thinking about the line between WMF staff and Wiki-volunteers. Where they cross, where they clash, where they come together. Hey wait, that sounds familiar.

I'm thinking about all the on-Wiki and off-Wiki reading I need to do to get up to speed!