Post-Credentialism

Description

by webisteme:

"Post-credentialism is the characteristic of peer-production not to make credentials a requirement for participation. This contrasts with traditional institutional filtering of participation by credentials, for example the requirement to hold an academic post in order to submit an article to a peer-reviewed journal. Wikipedia, in contrast, is post-credentialist: a person does not need a degree in a subject to write or edit an article. Likewise, the blogosphere could be said to be characterised by post-credentialism, to the extent that posts are considered on their own merits, rather than the qualifications of the person involved. Post-credentialism does not entail a criticism or rejection of credentials, rather it makes them an irrelevant criteria for participation. This has the advantage of fostering a culture in which ideas and contributions are valued for themselves, rather than the perceived authority of the contributor. It also prevents individuals from ‘coasting’ on their credentials, or attempting to silence or devalue other contributions on any other basis than merit."