Date of Award

Spring 5-5-2017

Degree Type

Thesis

Degree Name

MA English

Department

English

Advisor

Dr. Patrice Thoms-Cappello

Committee Member

Dr. Kelly Shea

Keywords

wikis, documentation, authority, fandom, web 2.0, cultural spaces

Abstract

The wiki is an online collaborative document that requires analysis and consideration from scholars of digital documentation. The wiki's authority style is based on reliability instead of authority. In a wiki, information becomes stable through discourse and conversation to produce a stable truth within the wiki itself. The wiki is unique for open-source access style, meaning all users are equal and anyone can participate. When more users are able to participate, more information is created, making the wiki an almost unlimited source of information creation. Also, the wiki has little to no barriers of entry, so wikis become a space for undesired information storage. Fan wikis, for example, store niche information about popular culture TV shows, books, movies, and video games. These fan wikis become cultures in and of themselves that allow users greater immersion into their favorite virtual worlds through access to important information.

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