Wikipedia – the online source of information, announced a new feature called WikiLove button for its English version of the online encyclopedia. Wikipedia calls the initiative “a simple experiment in appreciation” and the objective behind this is to encourage and cheer up more users to edit and contribute to the site with more articles.

According the the blog post by WikiMedia Foundation -

“The act of expressing appreciation for other users, by contrast, is a largely manual effort. Whether it’s welcoming new users, inviting users to participate in specific topics or discussions, recognizing effort using barnstars and trophies, or just sending a whimsical note, expressing appreciation is not an activity that is facilitated by the software – in spite of its known importance for people’s likelihood to want to edit.”

Wikipedia conducted a survey to determine what encouraged editors to edit articles more frequently. The survey results showed that 78% of editors would love to edit more frequently if they received complements and appreciation.

The WikiLove Button is live on the Wikipedia test site and will go live site-wide on June 29th. You can try the new feature on Wikipedia’s prototype site by creating a test page. Don’t forget to check the remember me for 30-daysbox – Some sort of a bug!

What exactly does WikiLove do?

This feature is something similar to Facebook’s “like” button. If a user wants to appreciate an editor, he/she can hit the WikiLove button which in turn will send (virtual) stars, cats and beers as a token of appreciation. An update appears on the editors talk page with your feedback and photos of A beer for you!or A kitten for you!.

You can, however, disable the WikiLove feature if you do not like it. Go to My Preferences → Editing → Labs Features and uncheck the box that is labeled Enable showing appreciation for other users with the WikiLove tab (experimental)

Wikimedia Foundation developer Ryan Kaldari is the man behind this tool. He developed this feature as a small gadget and the editor engagement team at Wikimedia Foundation developed it into a full feature. Wikipedia stated that it will be tracking the feature to determine its frequency of use and whether it actually increases editor involvement or not.

Its good to appreciate someone for their good work. You can start with WikiLove.