Wikipedia Project: True Crime
Doing the Wikipedia project in class where I find and edit an article was unlike any other project I had done in my college career so far. This project had me learning both about a topic I am passionate about as well as how to use a platform I had never used before. There were definitely some difficulties trying to figure out what exactly Wikipedia is looking for and how to use it, but seeing my knowledge online and knowing anyone from anywhere in the world would be able to use it was rewarding. This gave me an opportunity to learn about true crime as a genre, how the genre is looked at on a streaming platform like Netflix, how to edit Wikipedia pages, and how to think about my writing in a different way than before. The most interesting aspect of learning more about true crime on Netflix was that one show, Making a Murderer. It is always interesting to see who or what was a “trend setter”, and from my research it is clear that Making a Murderer was what took true crime on Netflix to the next level. A platform as large and widespread as Netflix obviously had true crime shows already, but there was one that stood out so tremendously that Netflix now pumps out true crime based shows or movies constantly. Making a Murderer was such an influential show that Netflix pivoted to make more shows and movies similar to it. I also enjoyed the fact that I was able to look at something I enjoy daily in a new light. I watch true crime shows, listen to podcasts, and am constantly searching for something binge-worthy to watch on Netflix- seeing how true crime and Netflix intertwine was a perfect mix of these things. Looking at true crime and Netflix in a scholarly way and learning why it is so popular not only made me think about the reasons I watch true crime on Netflix, but also reinforced some of the reasons I had thought about. This is why “Netflix Originals: The Evolution of True Crime Television” was my favorite article to read. It touched on the fact that there is an intimacy that a viewer feels when watching true crime making them feel close to this thing that so many of us can not wrap our heads around, but the fact that the viewer is distanced from the actual protagonist almost acts like a safety net. This is one of the major reasons it is so popular- similarly to horror movies, the viewer is scared but they also know they are safe.
The learning process personally was easier in some aspects than others. Learning about the topic, and gathering information for it was easy. I enjoyed being able to read scholarly articles about something I am passionate about and finding the information that stood out to me as something I would want to read if I were looking up this topic online. However, making sure that none of my notes had quotes in them was hard- as I often find myself pulling out or highlighting the quotes that I find interesting, the author chose to put that sentence in for a reason, right? I also found difficulty in actually writing out and editing the two paragraphs that I added to the Wikipedia page. I know that I will understand what is trying to be said, however since Wikipedia is so widely used, I had to think about how to say what I wanted to, and how to organize it in a way that connects and is easily understood by anyone who would read this Wikipedia article. Writing for myself or peers is one thing- but writing for the entire internet is another. I had to edit and move sentences from one place to another because it would connect better for other people, not just myself. The fact that I was learning how to use the Wikipedia platform at the same time was proving to make this a bit more difficult, however the results were well worth any frustrations I had.
As for thinking about Wikipedia itself and its users, I never realized how much I underestimated the role of volunteer editors for so many years. Though, it is fair to say that this view of Wikipedia and the volunteer editors was shaped for me at a young age, and with access to databases and scholarly articles as I got older pushed aside any thoughts about using Wikipedia. When I used to think about someone who would edit Wikipedia I would never have pictured myself, especially because of the bad reputation Wikipedia had. I would have pictured a basement dweller who spends their time changing articles, or someone who thinks they know more than everyone else, but now there is no clear image to me of what a volunteer editor looks like. A Wikipedia editor looks like me, a college student, or a professor, or anyone else I may find on my college campus. There is no one kind of person who is a Wikipedia editor, and that is a major reason why Wikipedia has diverse information and unbiased articles that present researched facts. I find it fascinating how people choose to share their passion of learning. For myself, it was becoming a graduate student professor and taking interest in the origins of learning and thought through philosophy, for others it is making the information they know or as passionate about available to anyone worldwide on Wikipedia. It became obvious to me quickly that edits to a Wikipedia page are not just adding thoughts or perspective, but rather unbiased information from reputable sources. No one can go on to Wikipedia and expect to post what they know (or what they think they know) and expect the edit to stay up for long.
To conclude this journey, I have found myself more informed on the topic of true crime, how it relates to the streaming service Netflix, and I was able to change a view that was ingrained in my mind from a young age. Wikipedia and the collaboration of the editors that use it have made me see that although we should not trust everything we see online, we can trust the editors and people who want to share information on topics that they care about.
