Movement Strategy/Forum/Archiving
In May 2022, the Movement Strategy Forum (MS Forum) was launched as a space for community discussions. It was introduced at the time as an off-wiki space that would allow communities to use Google Translate to aid understanding across languages.
At its launch, the Foundation committed to monitor its use and engagement. After two years, we want to share some statistics about its usage, some learnings, and the next steps.
Trends of usage
[edit]Number of users and contributors
[edit]Forum usage has been in continuous decline since launch. At its peak - June 2022 when it was launched - it saw just over a hundred contributors (someone who has posted or reacted to a post once). It has since declined to 2 (this includes one Wikimedia Foundation staff ) in October 2024. We observed a significant drop in the first six months after the launch, bottoming out around December 2022, and this has continued ever since.
The number of new contributors, meaning the number of users who engaged with a post (liked or commented on a post), also followed the same decreasing trend.
Number of active users on Meta-Wiki Vs MS Forum
[edit]Compared to Meta-wiki, the Forum has far fewer users. This graph compares active users on Meta-Wiki with the MS Forum.
Number of active users on Meta-Wiki Vs MS Forum per region
[edit]Another aspect of the Forum was an ambition for it to become a space for under-represented regions. Unfortunately, the number of users from under-represented regions does not compare to Meta-Wiki. Most underrepresented communities continue communicating on other on-wiki (Meta-wiki, project village pumps) and off-wiki channels (e.g. Telegram, WhatsApp, etc where their friends are already).
Learnings
[edit]Data from these two years of activity in the MS Forum, show a continuous decrease of user engagement. Some learnings from this are :
Machine translations are better than nothing: Many forum users noted that having machine translations (run by Google Translate in the case of the Forum) were better than not having any translations. Since the launch of the forum, first steps on this are taking place across the wikis and users can also use in-browser capabilities for machine translations.
- Top discussions could be a feature that can aid discoverability: The top discussions feature on the forum helped surface where conversations were already taking place. This could be explored in existing spaces.
- Knowledge is human: many communities are already meeting in co-created spaces like WikiCauserie, Afrika Baraza, MENA Connect, etc. Community members feel connected to these platforms as they can meaningfully engage openly and in their preferred language with other Wikimedians.
- Connection and belonging: Communities prefer to use platforms where their friends are already present - like on-wiki or on off-wiki messenger apps (e.g. Telegram, WhatsApp, etc) and where they can have connection in their own languages for discussions, shareouts, and invitations.
Next steps
[edit]Based on the data and the learning, we will be archiving the Forum in April 2025. It will be put in read-only mode for a year - during this time all the discussions will be available online, but no new discussions can be started. After this period we will export all the data and retain a full archive.
This will enable us to generate $19,100 in savings, which along with the time saved will be reinvested into improving discussions on Meta-Wiki including building better templates for everyone to use.
FAQs
[edit]Why is the forum now archived?
[edit]Over the last year, we have observed a continuous decline in community usage of the forum. This decline began immediately after the forum's launch, and within 6 months after the launch, the numbers tended to almost zero. Due to continuous low usage, lack of engagement, and to redirect funding and time towards on-wiki spaces, we have decided to archive the forum.
Was the forum promoted enough by Foundation staff?
[edit]Half of the content created in the forum has been by Wikimedia Foundation staff. It was also widely promoted at its launch in different spaces by Wikimedia Foundation staff. Community members were invited to engage there, but unfortunately, the engagement didn’t follow.
How much does the forum cost?
[edit]The hosting and maintenance cost of the MS Forum is $20K per year. By archiving it, we will save more than $19K, which will be reinvested into improving on-wiki spaces.
What have you learned from this experiment?
[edit]- Knowledge is human
Communities are already meeting in co-created spaces like WikiCauserie, Afrika Baraza, MENA Connect, etc. People feel connected to these platforms as they can meaningfully engage openly and in their preferred language.
- Meet people where they are
Communities prefer using platforms where they already are - like on-wiki, Telegram, WhatsApp etc in their languages for discussions, shareouts and invitations.
- Machine translations are better than nothing
Many forum users noted that having machine translations (run by Google Translate in the case of the Forum) were better than not having any translations. Since the launch of the forum, the Community Wishlist pages have experimented with using MinT for on-wiki machine translations.
- Top discussions could be a feature that can aid discoverability
A top discussions section improved discoverability of active conversations. We'll start a discussion with Meta Wiki Admins to use the Meta Wiki home page more proactively to surface such discussions.
- Japanese community needed a place to connect globally
The Japanese community has enthusiastically adopted Diff - the Wikimedia movement blog - and it has become a place to share (since Wikimania 2023 more than 366 diff posts have been made). This enables the community to tell their stories and share their experiences
What alternatives are there for the MS forum?
[edit]Many communities are already meeting in co-created spaces like WikiCauserie, Afrika Baraza, MENA Connect, South Asia Open Community Call, ESEAP Community Call, etc, offering them the possibility to meaningfully engage in their preferred language. Meta-Wiki is also the home for many community members.
What will happen to past discussions?
[edit]Starting from April 2025, the forum will be in read-only mode but will continue to be accessible online for one year. After that, all the content will be exported and archived.
Will the archived data be public?
[edit]The forum will continue to be accessible when it is in read-only mode. Only the ability to create new topics will be restricted.. There is some personal data or conversations in some private groups that will not be public.
Why is no one from Wikimedia Foundation staff visiting The MS Forum regularly?
[edit]Foundation staff have been a big part of the forum since its launch - both administering the forum and participating within it. More than half of all the topics posted on the forum were created by staff. Furthermore, 47% of all comments (replies etc) have also been by staff. However, the forum was designed first and foremost as a community space. Staff posting in a forum with no other users does not help movement discussions.