Grants talk:TPS/Hfordsa/Middle Eastern Participation and Presence in Wikipedia Workshop

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Impact & measures of success[edit]

Dear Heather, thanks for your interesting proposal! It is definitely relevant. At the same time it is still a bit brief, and therefore I would be happy if you could expand a bit on the expected outcome and impact. Maybe, the best way to phrase my question to you is "How would you define success regarding your endeavour?", what has been accomplished if your mission has been successful? You write that you aim at bringing about policy change within the WMF and chapters. To make it a bit more practical, could you give an example of what kind of change it is you envisage and what obstacles these changes will address? Thanks! --Johannes Rohr (WMDE) (talk) 10:04, 1 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Thank you for your feedback, Johannes! I've explained a bit more in the final section. Let me know if you need any additional info. Thanks :) --Hfordsa (talk) 02:02, 2 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Hi, Heather. I think Johannes was actually asking for you to expand a bit on your statement about recommendations for policy change within the projects and within the movement; specifically, please elaborate upon, "constructive suggestions about how to improve participation in Wikipedia in the Middle East and in editing articles related to the Middle East". Do you have a plan to reach those who may be able to implement changes like this (in other words, helping the fruits of your ethnographic research reach the community)? Wolliff (talk) 17:54, 9 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks, Wolliff. I believe that I had answered the question about how to reach those who might implement changes but I was probably not clear enough.

Middle East editors can be seen as the center of what is exciting about Wikipedia going forward: editors numbers among Arabic speakers are small but growing, articles related to the Arab Spring have shown promising collaboration by Middle East and other editors, and the structure of articles related to conflict in the Middle East face constraints unique to the region. But for all this promise, there has so far been very little research on the particular challenges faced by editors in that region, something that is essential to understand if outreach and training efforts are to succeed there. Any positive change requires dialogue with two key groups: at the WMF level, regarding outreach strategy, and at the community level, where editors could do well to understand and empathize with the editing context in the Middle East.

What is the effect of protected pages on the growth of articles? How do activists balance their wishes for change and the need to remain neutral on Wikipedia? What challenges have Middle East editors faced in collaborating from Western editors? What effect have existing outreach activities had on the growth and strength of the local community and where are the key opportunities for continued success?

These are some of the questions that I would like to try and answer with this short research project. In order to facilitate discussion and debate about the results of this research, I will conduct a brown bag session about the results at the WMF (as I have done on two previous occasions) as well as to facilitate discussion about the stories where they will be published and on Foundation-l. I am hopeful that with my previous journalistic experience and networks, that I will be able to publish at least one of the feature-length stories in mainstream press, something that will improve the reach of the research.

I'm not suggesting that a host of changes will suddenly occur because of this short project, but I do believe that based on past experience, stories of real editors and their very real challenges get us closer to understanding how to make the editing process more inclusive and engaging - especially for new editors and that I will have a few very constructive, actionable suggestions regarding outreach and/or structural changes to the user experience.

I need to confirm whether I will participate or not as soon as possible, so would appreciate it if you would let me know when I will receive a reply. Thank you!

Event postponed[edit]

The workshop has been postponed to December because of low attendance.

Withdrawn[edit]

This request was withdrawn, as Oxford funded Heather's participation. Wolliff (talk) 20:22, 19 November 2012 (UTC)[reply]

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