User blog comment:Brandon Rhea/Tips for attracting readers and editors/@comment-244709-20130523011043/@comment-20644-20130529212645

I guess the question I would ask is this: why do you feel that people going to your wiki to socialize is a bad thing? Certainly there are merits to the idea of just focusing on content&mdash;Wookieepedia is a successful example of that&mdash;but not every wiki can or should be like that. If you just focus on one thing like building content, then you risk turning away a lot of users who might otherwise go to your wiki.

Think of your wiki's subject for a moment. Kung Fu Panda can be enjoyed at all ages but it's also something targeted for a younger crowd. Those Wikia users who are 13 and up that are fans of Kung Fu Panda may not know much about building wiki content, but they would love to have a place to talk about it. Your wiki gets fantastic page views just as an encyclopedic resource, so imagine how much more successful you could be if you also let people socialize. With the encyclopedic resource and a fan discussion area, you could become the premier fan site for Kung Fu Panda on the web.

To me, I think the concern about allowing more socialization stems from the worry that there will be no more wiki editors if people just talk all the time. I don't think that's true. As Imamadmad said, socialization can bring new editors into the fold and get them interested in editing. Even if most new people go to the wiki to chat about Kung Fu Panda, there will always be those who enjoy documenting the facts in an encyclopedia. You can also create policies (limited and basic ones, mind you) to try and guide the way that social features are used.

My two cents? Give it a try. The biggest hurdle to clear when making changes like this is actually making the choice. Once you do that, it's almost never as scary as you think. In the end, if it's not working out the way you would like, you can always turn them off again.

I hope that helps!