User:Cocodelcorazon

Technical Writing Exercise 1: Wiki Contributors

Wikipedia is a popular open-source, online encyclopaedia. Available in multi-lingual versions, the English version alone has well over three million articles from countless anonymous contributors. Writers receive no monetary reward and articles once written, are often edited by numerous other contributors. Who are these people?

Wikipedia was initially linked to Nupedia, an online encyclopaedia which relied on highly qualified volunteer contributors and an elaborate multi-step peer review process. However, despite it's noble intentions, Nupedia managed to create only twelve articles in it's first year. Wikipedia could not have reached the size that it is today based on the elitist Nupedia model.

Nonetheless, despite being open-source, Wikipedia is largely compiled by an elite group of contributors. Statistics from 2005 showed that 50% of all Wikipedia edits were made by just 0.7% of users and 72% of articles were written by 1.8% of users. Out of the top ten Wikipedia contributors, at least eight are male.

According to 2008 United Nations University survey of 130,000 Wikipedia users, the average age of a contributor is 26.8 years, 87% are male and at least 46% are not university educated. Due to the nature of contributing, users must also be highly technically proficient.

Due to the anonymity of contributors, most is unknown. Political or commercial affiliations, level of expertise in the area in which they are writing are all questions one should consider when reading an article. Since articles can be edited by different users one cannot attribute content to any particular contributor.

Exercise 2 How to make instant coffees.

Making an instant coffee is very similar to making a cup of tea. All you need is a jar of instant coffee, boiling water, a teaspoon and of course, a heat resistant cup. Place one teaspoon of instant coffee into your cup, pour in boiling water and stir. Milk and sugar are optional. Instant coffee to a coffee lover is like an old tea bag to a tea lover. If you have a discerning palate make sure you try an espresso coffee made by a good barista sometime. The art of blending, roasting, grinding and then extracting oils from coffee beans creates a flavour profile more complex than a great wine. Historically, coffee houses were places where great thinkers would connect. Get out of that cluttered office, meet up with friends or colleagues in your local cafe and connect over a great coffee.