Thanks for your suggestions Barry. I have, in the past come across several first time editors online, whose edit, while not a perfect one, shows a lot of potential. Thankfully, we've got Twinkle and the whole WikiLove set of tools to welcome these guys, but still there are some Bullies around.
On 12/16/11, Barry Newstead <bnewst...@wikimedia.org> wrote: > This is a great question Srikanth and links to some of the thinking that > Shiju just shared about the challenges for Indic language projects. [1]. My > feeling is that editing Wikipedia isn't for everyone, but there are a lot > of people who it is or could be for. Our challenge is to really connect > with those who will find joy in the experience and not worry about those > who think sharing knowledge freely is a strange form of insanity. ;) > > I have limited experience, but in my travels in India, I think the greatest > challenge is in basic awareness of how Wikipedia works. I'd say that over > 90% of non-Wikipedians in India that I've met have no idea that they can > edit Wikipedia or that Wikipedia is not written by paid staff (many also > have no idea we have Indic language projects, not to mention 20!). These > are generally not stupid people and our challenge is to inform them. If we > inform millions, we'll find thousands (that's all we really can expect from > global experience) to try editing in all of our projects. So the question > I've been pondering is how do we explain the basics of who we are to > millions rather than to 25-50 people who might show up for a workshop. > > From there our challenge is to welcome those who feel like trying it out, > orient them to the norms of the environment, help them when they make > mistakes and encourage them to stick with it, even if they aren't perfect. > As the editor trends data shows, our greatest opportunity and challenge > lies in helping those who show up and want to edit...succeed! [2] There is > some neat work going on to look at ways we can improve our interaction with > newcomers, particularly by making their interaction feel more > human-to-human rather than human-to-template.[3] > > My 2 paise. > > Best, > Barry > > > [1] > http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Foundation_-_India_Programs/Indic_Languages/Summary_of_initial_discussions_-_2011 > [2] Only 10% of new editors stick around for a year these days > http://strategy.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Enwp_retention_vs_active_editors.png > and > about 85% don't even last 3 months > http://strategy.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Enwp-jan-cohorts--10-1-.png > [3] An example of work that Steven and Mariana are working on building from > WMF's Summer of Research: > http://blog.wikimedia.org/2011/11/21/you-have-new-messages-improving-communication-on-wikipedia/ > > On Fri, Dec 16, 2011 at 10:01 AM, Srikanth Ramakrishnan < > parakara.gh...@gmail.com> wrote: > >> Oh, and by the way. Try Googling for Tamil Wedding in images. The >> first result should be a result of the Tamil Media Contest. Perhaps, >> this could be more ... Err ... Encouragement? >> >> On 12/16/11, Srikanth Ramakrishnan <parakara.gh...@gmail.com> wrote: >> > Swaroop, yes I know. I personally do enjoy editing the article on my >> > native town and adding photos about it. Wish others would follow me. >> > Arun, that's pretty much a Commons Venture. I've tried that a lot. >> > Most of my pictures are first page results on Google. Try Googling >> > Nice Road or Chittode Junction. But it hasn't helped me that well. >> > >> > -- >> > Regards, >> > Srikanth Ramakrishnan. >> > Wikipedia Coimbatore Meetup on December 10th. >> > http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Meetup/Coimbatore >> > >> >> >> -- >> Regards, >> Srikanth Ramakrishnan. >> Wikipedia Coimbatore Meetup on December 10th. >> http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Meetup/Coimbatore >> >> _______________________________________________ >> Wikimediaindia-l mailing list >> Wikimediaindia-l@lists.wikimedia.org >> To unsubscribe from the list / change mailing preferences visit >> https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediaindia-l >> > > > > -- > Barry Newstead > Chief Global Development Officer > Wikimedia Foundation > > Imagine a world in which every single human being can freely share in > the sum of all knowledge. Help us make it a reality! > > http://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Donate > -- Regards, Srikanth Ramakrishnan. Wikipedia Coimbatore Meetup on December 10th. http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Meetup/Coimbatore _______________________________________________ Wikimediaindia-l mailing list Wikimediaindia-l@lists.wikimedia.org To unsubscribe from the list / change mailing preferences visit https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediaindia-l