Aaron Halfaker

Aaron Halfaker
Born December 27, 1983
Virginia, Minnesota[1]
Fields Human-Computer Interaction
computer-supported cooperative work
Institutions Wikimedia Foundation
Alma mater The College of St. Scholastica
University of Minnesota[1]
Doctoral advisor John T. Riedl
Website
halfaker.info

Aaron Halfaker is an American computer scientist who is an employee of the Wikimedia Foundation.[2] Halfaker earned a Ph.D. in computer science from the GroupLens research lab at the University of Minnesota in 2013. He is known for his research on Wikipedia and the decrease in the number of active editors of the site.[3][4][5] He has said that Wikipedia began a "decline phase" around 2007 and has continued to decline since then.[6][7] Halfaker has also studied automated accounts on Wikipedia, known as "bots",[8] and the way they affect new contributors to the site.[2] He has developed a tool for Wikipedia editing called "Snuggle", the goal of which is to eliminate vandalism and spam, and to also highlight constructive contributions by new editors.[9]

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Wicked Smart: 5 questions with U of M PhD and Wikipedian Aaron Halfaker". TechMN. 11 December 2013. Retrieved 5 January 2015.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Hicks, Jesse (18 February 2014). "This machine kills trolls". The Verge. Retrieved 11 December 2014.
  3. ↑ Nosowitz, Dan (January 28, 2013). "Wikipedia is getting Worse as it gets Better". Popular Science. Retrieved 5 January 2015.
  4. ↑ Halfaker, A.; Geiger, R. S.; Morgan, J. T.; Riedl, J. (28 December 2012). "The Rise and Decline of an Open Collaboration System: How Wikipedia's Reaction to Popularity Is Causing Its Decline". American Behavioral Scientist 57 (5): 664–688. doi:10.1177/0002764212469365.
  5. ↑ LeJacq, Yannick (2 February 2013). "Wikipedia Reaches 3 Billion Monthly Mobile Views Amid Concerns About Contributor Content". International Business Times. Retrieved 11 December 2014.
  6. ↑ Jacobs, Harrison (22 November 2013). "Wikipedia Could Degenerate If It Can't Fix One Big Problem". Business Insider. Retrieved 11 December 2014.
  7. ↑ Simonite, Tom (22 October 2013). "The Decline of Wikipedia". MIT Technology Review. Retrieved 13 March 2015.
  8. ↑ Kloc, Joe (25 February 2014). "Wikipedia Is Edited by Bots. That’s a Good Thing.". Newsweek. Retrieved 11 December 2014.
  9. ↑ Baker, Katie (31 October 2013). "Wikipedia's Wobbling (Citation Needed)". Newsweek. Retrieved 26 December 2014.