Wikipedia:Service awards

This page in a nutshell: Some editors choose to acknowledge their service to Wikipedia by displaying a service award which denotes time served and number of edits made. These awards are unofficial – displaying the wrong one carries no penalty (except possible disapproval from other editors) and displaying the right one does not indicate authority or competence.

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Service awards are a simple way of acknowledging an editor's level of contribution based on two specific benchmarks: the number of contributions that the editor has made to Wikipedia and the length of time registered. One academic has described Wikipedia's service award schema as a way to award the self.^[1] One may also think of them as auto-attained milestones.

This award is unlike other awards given from one editor to another in a show of appreciation; it is intended to be given to yourself, although it can also be given by a second party. It is achieved by a strictly mechanical count of time registered and number of edits. There is no process for receiving these awards; you just determine the grade to which you are entitled, then display it on your user page. Typically, both the time and edit-count requirements are met before considering oneself eligible for each award level.

Please remember that neither the number of edits nor the length of time from when an account was created is a good indicator of the quality of an editor's contributions or diplomatic ability. Hence, service awards do not indicate any level of authority whatsoever; "master" editors are not bestowed with more authority through this award than "novice" editors.

^ Ashton, Daniel (January 3, 2011). "Awarding the self in Wikipedia: Identity work and the disclosure of knowledge". First Monday. 16 (1). doi:10.5210/fm.v16i1.3156. Archived from the original on January 26, 2013. Retrieved January 8, 2016.

[1] Ashton, Daniel (January 3, 2011). "Awarding the self in Wikipedia: Identity work and the disclosure of knowledge". First Monday. 16 (1). doi:10.5210/fm.v16i1.3156. Archived from the original on January 26, 2013. Retrieved January 8, 2016.

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