Wikidata as Semantic Infrastructure: Knowledge Representation, Data Labor, and Truth in a More-Than-Technical Project

Ford, H; Iliadis, A

Wikidata as Semantic Infrastructure: Knowledge Representation, Data Labor, and Truth in a More-Than-Technical Project

Ford, H

Iliadis, A

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Publisher:: SAGE Publishing
Publication Type:: Journal Article
Citation:: Social Media and Society, 2023, 9, (3)
Issue Date:: 2023-09-06

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Field	Value	Language
dc.contributor.author	Ford, H https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3500-9772
dc.contributor.author	Iliadis, A
dc.date.accessioned	2023-09-07T03:54:04Z
dc.date.available	2023-09-07T03:54:04Z
dc.date.issued	2023-09-06
dc.identifier.citation	Social Media and Society, 2023, 9, (3)
dc.identifier.issn	2056-3051
dc.identifier.uri	http://hdl.handle.net/10453/171972
dc.description.abstract	Wikidata is a knowledge base (i.e., a database of facts) project of the Wikimedia Foundation and a sister project to Wikipedia that contains billions of facts that anyone can edit. Platform companies, such as Amazon, Google, and Microsoft use Wikidata to retrieve and transmit facts across the internet, while researchers rely on Wikidata as a data source for facts. Various Wikipedia researchers have commended Wikidata for its collaborative nature and liberatory potential, yet less attention has been paid to the social and political implications of Wikidata. This article aims to advance work in this context by introducing the concept of semantic infrastructure and outlining how Wikidata’s role as semantic infrastructure is the primary vehicle by which Wikipedia has become infrastructural for digital platforms. We develop two key themes that build on questions of power that arise in infrastructure studies and apply to Wikidata: knowledge representation and data labor. We argue that considering these issues about Wikidata helps contextualize such infrastructural technologies within existing media and communication studies debates and highlights the contingencies upon which their outcomes depend.
dc.language	en
dc.publisher	SAGE Publishing
dc.relation.ispartof	Social Media and Society
dc.relation.isbasedon	10.1177/20563051231195552
dc.rights	info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
dc.subject	1902 Film, Television and Digital Media, 2001 Communication and Media Studies, 2002 Cultural Studies
dc.subject.classification	3605 Screen and digital media
dc.subject.classification	4410 Sociology
dc.subject.classification	4701 Communication and media studies
dc.title	Wikidata as Semantic Infrastructure: Knowledge Representation, Data Labor, and Truth in a More-Than-Technical Project
dc.type	Journal Article
utslib.citation.volume	9
utslib.for	1902 Film, Television and Digital Media
utslib.for	2001 Communication and Media Studies
utslib.for	2002 Cultural Studies
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences/Digital and Social Media
utslib.copyright.status	open_access	*
pubs.consider-herdc	true
dc.date.updated	2023-09-07T03:54:03Z
pubs.issue	3
pubs.publication-status	Published online
pubs.volume	9
utslib.citation.issue	3

Abstract:

Wikidata is a knowledge base (i.e., a database of facts) project of the Wikimedia Foundation and a sister project to Wikipedia that contains billions of facts that anyone can edit. Platform companies, such as Amazon, Google, and Microsoft use Wikidata to retrieve and transmit facts across the internet, while researchers rely on Wikidata as a data source for facts. Various Wikipedia researchers have commended Wikidata for its collaborative nature and liberatory potential, yet less attention has been paid to the social and political implications of Wikidata. This article aims to advance work in this context by introducing the concept of semantic infrastructure and outlining how Wikidata’s role as semantic infrastructure is the primary vehicle by which Wikipedia has become infrastructural for digital platforms. We develop two key themes that build on questions of power that arise in infrastructure studies and apply to Wikidata: knowledge representation and data labor. We argue that considering these issues about Wikidata helps contextualize such infrastructural technologies within existing media and communication studies debates and highlights the contingencies upon which their outcomes depend.

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http://hdl.handle.net/10453/171972