Classified Game: A Study Of Knowledge Construction In Wikipedia

Classification is an extremely complex scientific understanding activity,usually referring to the categorization of things according to their characteristics.As a model of "collaborative knowledge production",Wikipedia has developed a set of popular classification system and classification rules that are different from traditional taxonomy.Through categorization,Wikipedia establishes convenient navigation links between scattered entries based on hierarchical relationships,and realizes the order of knowledge.However,in the process of classification,there is also a hidden battle between discourse and power.Using the research method of web ethnography,this paper firstly composes the connotation and specific rules of Wikipedia classification,specifically elaborates on the rules of three aspects: principle regulations,structural framework,and important factors of classification,and explores the influence of paper encyclopedia classification and traditional book taxonomy on Wikipedia classification principles,and explores the balance between the rules inside and outside the classification system.At the same time,the classification rules of Wikipedia are examined over time,tracing the formation and development of the classification rules,describing the current status of Wikipedia’s classification and exploring the usefulness of "classification" in constructing Wikipedia’s knowledge landscape.Afterwards,we combine three typical cases: the debate on "category: female billiard player," the debate on "category: homophobia," and the debate on the categorization of the entry "acupuncture," and discuss the three levels of category creation,category naming,and entry categorization.Finally,the concept of Wikipedia category politics is defined and an attempt is made to reflect on the concept of sociology of knowledge in digital communities.summarizing the new features of the knowledge construction of Wikipedia’s classification system.The study finds that a kind of categorical politics has been formed in Wikipedia,in which different ideological groups defend their own positions and fight against each other’s positions by means of three categorical games: category struggle,naming struggle and structure struggle,in order to compete for the knowledge legitimacy of the Wikipedia community.In the process of categorization game,resorting to internal rules,resorting to external sources,and resorting to community differences are the common struggle strategies of users.In addition,the three stages of Wikipedia’s categorical political knowledge construction present new features of reproducing institutionalized processes,updating justification procedures,and reconstructing socialized approaches.