You might have any number of reasons to launch a wiki; but why is anyone else going to help you build it?
When setting up a wiki you might want to consider two fundamental forms of motivation:
What’s in it for me:
- How will individuals benefit personally from contributing to the wiki? Maybe it gives them greater influence, fame, kudos or peer recognition? Maybe they can even make money? Craigslist, eBay and Yellowikis have all been built by individuals interested in personal commercial advantage.
What of me is in it:
- Why do so many people write blogs? have a page on Myspace? or up-load pictures to Flickr that can be seen by everyone? - certainly not for money, influence or power. Why do thousands of people contribute to the IMDB, Wikia, Wikitravel and Wikipedia? For some individuals the idea of putting something of themselves into a public space or working with a group of other people with a common purpose is fun and rewarding in itself; it defines part of what it means to “be human”. With the right WikiOhana you can benefit from this motivation too.
Notes:
Why did WikiOhana get started? “To pull the WikiFamily closer together.”
Why am I (PaulYoulten) writing this? Well I guess it is because I want you to learn from my (very expensive) mistakes. And, of course, it is fun building things with the other ContributorsToThisWiki.
Will you edit this page? I do not know… but I hope you will - whatever your motivation.
(N.B: Patrick Dunn first came up with this way of thinking about motivation - props!)