Digital Communication and Interactive Storytelling in Wikipedia : A Study of Greek Users’ Interaction and Experience

Abstract: Wikipedia consists of an online encyclopedia created by users worldwide who collaborate to distribute knowledge and edit information in real-time. Although Wikipedia's accuracy has been a disputable and debatable issue in many recent studies, little academic research has systematically addressed how users interact with the platform's storytelling tools and how do they perceive and use Wikipedia's infrastructure, such as interactive tools. This exploratory study fulfills this gap and sheds light on users' perceptions about Wikipedia's interactivity. Moreover, Wikipedia is approached as an online community where collaboration, co-creation, and knowledge distribution play an important role. Therefore, it can be studied under the scope of Digital Humanities as well. The theoretical framework of interactive storytelling and digital communication suggests that hyperlinks, page preview bottoms, or interactive catalogs are applied in Wikipedia's environment to help users absorb information and construct their narratives. The findings of this thesis offer practical insights on how Wikipedia's interactive storytelling tools empower users with the ability to develop their stories and become editors/authors and provide a foundation for further academic research on user experience and how to improve interactivity and digital communication in Wikipedia