I just realized that I missed the reply-all on the message below when I
sent it yesterday. I'm re-sending to the list.
----
Hey folks,
I had some time to try to address a couple of questions.
Pine asked:
Does Analytics have any ideas to contribute to how to stabilize and
> increase the population of active editors and to improve editor gender
> diversity?
Right now, there is a product team at the WMF[1] that is focused on
developing new features to help new editors. We post research results
describing our recent work on meta[2]. Right now, we're trying to solve
general problems that newcomers face. For example, figuring out how to
find simple & productive tasks to perform. See [3].
As far as new ideas, I personally have a ton that I'd love to talk about.
It would probably be better to start a new thread or even a set of wiki
pages on such strategies. Right now, I'm pursuing an old IEG to
restructure mentorship[4] in enwiki and maintaining a tool for helping wiki
mentors find promising newcomers in need of help[5] besides my work with
the Growth team discussed above.
1. https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Growth
2. https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Research:Onboarding_new_Wikipedians
3. https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Extension:GettingStarted
4.
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Grants:IEG/Reimagining_Mentorship_on_Wikipe…
5. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Snuggle
Gerard asked:
[...] can you please tell us to what extend the other languages are studied
> at all?
I'm not sure at which scope to answer this question. There's a lot of
external research that studies trends cross-language (e.g. [1] and [2]).
WikiStats provides summary statistics and timeseries for all Wikimedia
Projects[3]. We also perform studies cross-wiki internally. For example,
see my recently presented study of article creation trends across the top
10 Wikipedias[4]. Now, if you're trying to make a point about how we ought
to extend our studies to non-English Wikipedia wiki projects more, you'll
find us in agreement. In my observation, there are two main reasons that
we don't do more in non-English wikis.
(1) data-access: until recently, we didn't have the infrastructure to run
complex queries on non-English wikis without taking the Toolserver down.
Our relative ease in analyzing English Wikipedia made it a great space for
developing and testing hypotheses.
(2) ethnography: as English is our common language at the WMF and many of
us are natives of the English Wikipedia, we understand that community
better. I personally find it easier to develop and vet metrics. In order
for me to effectively extend me analysis to non-English wikis, I need
collaborators from those wikis help me understand the community and vet my
metrics. In the past, I have collaborated with Henrique Andrade to look at
the Portuguese Wikipedia. I'm interested in working with others.
1. http://xxx.tau.ac.il/pdf/1312.0976.pdf
2.
http://www-users.cs.umn.edu/~bhecht/publications/bhecht_CommAndTech2009.pdf
3. http://stats.wikimedia.org/
4. https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Research:Wikipedia_article_creation
> On Thu, Mar 6, 2014 at 5:21 AM, Dariusz Jemielniak <
> dariusz.jemielniak(a)fulbrightmail.org> wrote:
>
>> hi there,
>>
>> sounds cool! CSCW 2015 is also an interesting idea, I'd love to
>> contribute to.
>>
>> best,
>>
>> dj
>>
>>
>> On Thu, Mar 6, 2014 at 2:25 AM, Dario Taraborelli <
>> dtaraborelli(a)wikimedia.org> wrote:
>>
>>> All,
>>>
>>> these are highlights from a session the Wikimedia Foundation's Research
>>> & Data team <https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Analytics/Research_and_Data>hosted at CSCW '14 in Baltimore. The audience was a group of researchers
>>> either working on Wikipedia/Wikimedia-related research projects or
>>> interested in learning about opportunities to collaborate with the
>>> Foundation.
>>>
>>> Feel free to get in touch if you have any questions/comments.
>>> Contact
>>>
>>> - Dario Taraborelli - dario(a)wikimedia.org
>>> - Aaron Halfaker - ahalfaker(a)wikimedia.org
>>> - Jonathan Morgan - jmorgan(a)wikimedia.org
>>>
>>>
>>> IRC: irc://irc.freenode.net/wikimedia-research (webclient<http://webchat.freenode.net/?channels=#wikimedia-research>
>>> )
>>>
>>> Mailing list: wiki-research-l (mailing list<https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wiki-research-l>
>>> )
>>>
>>> Resources
>>> We gave a short overview of existing resources of potential interest to
>>> Wikipedia/Wikimedia researchers:
>>>
>>>
>>> - OAuth allows 3rd-party software to edit Wikipedia on behalf of a
>>> Wikipedia editor and it's a (mostly untapped) opportunity to run
>>> experimental research or test new interfaces targeted at Wikipedians. See:
>>> https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Extension:OAuth#Using_OAuth
>>> - Data portal summarizes data sources that are currently available
>>> to researchers and app developers. See:
>>> https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Research:Data
>>> - Wikimedia Research Newsletter: A monthly overview reviewing or
>>> summarizing recent research (contributions are welcome, please contact
>>> Dario if you're interested in contributing)
>>> https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Research:Newsletter
>>>
>>> Subject recruitment. Aaron and Dario have managed a process<https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Research:Subject_recruitment>for documenting and vetting subject recruitment occurring on Wikimedia
>>> projects. This process was set in place to help resolve the tension
>>> between researchers' need to recruit subjects and editors' desire to not be
>>> bothered. The process involves a public discussion and mentorship in order
>>> to ensure that proposed studies that affect editors are well documented,
>>> are addressing original questions and do not result in unnecessary
>>> disruption of wiki work. This is a service we've been providing on a
>>> volunteer basis as members of the Research Committee, it's meant to offer
>>> support to researchers but doesn't eliminate the risk that an account used
>>> for recruitment purposes might be blocked by an administrator. IRBs and
>>> minors. One of the issues that we discussed is dealing with IRB & other
>>> ethics boards' requirements when studies may result in interaction with
>>> minors. Aaron <ahalfaker(a)wikimedia.org> is willing to discuss the
>>> issue with researchers and university staff upon request. Annual
>>> survey modules. Interest was expressed in exploring strategies for
>>> expanding the annual editor/reader survey with new questions contributed by
>>> researchers. At this point (March 2014) we cannot commit to any such
>>> project, but in general there is potential for cooperations between WMF and
>>> academic researchers in this area. Interested parties should contact Tilman
>>> Bayer (tbayer at wikimedia dot org) who has been conducting the last WMF
>>> editor survey and can provide information about these surveys (methodology,
>>> results, available data etc.) and their calendar.
>>> WikiResearch Workshop at CSCW 2015. We discussed planning a workshop
>>> for CSCW next year. Anyone who is interested in collaborating, please
>>> contact us. Details are TBD, but our general goals include:
>>>
>>> - increase awareness of the public data resources that are available
>>> - highlight research areas that are ripe for investigation, esp.
>>> where WMF could benefit from the results
>>> - get a better sense of what kind of data resources (and/or what
>>> data formats) researchers would like to have
>>> - brainstorm a (lightweight, ethical, practical) model for
>>> partnership between WMF and academic research orgs that want access to
>>> certain non-public data
>>>
>>>
>>> Wiki Research Hackathons. On Nov. 9th, 2013, we held our first global
>>> research hackathon (announcement<https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Research:Labs2/Hackathons/November_9th,_2013>).
>>> We had universities and other local meetups from around the world connect
>>> via Google Hangout to share ideas, data and presentations geared toward
>>> datasets, code and other resources. We'll be planning another hackathon in
>>> the coming months. You can help by hosting or attending your own local
>>> event. Please contact us if you're interested.
>>>
>>> Public listing on WMF's strategic research questions. We discussed the
>>> potential for the Wikimedia Foundation to list out key areas of research
>>> that we are interested in. This is something we are keenly interested in
>>> and you should expect to hear from us soon through wiki-research-l<https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wiki-research-l>and
>>> @WikiResearch <https://twitter.com/WikiResearch>.
>>>
>>> Tweet @WikiResearch. We maintain a relatively high-visibility twitter
>>> account from which we tweet about new research, data, and other
>>> initiatives. If you tweet about your own wiki-related work
>>> @WikiResearch <https://twitter.com/WikiResearch>, we will retweet it so
>>> long as it's relevant. We will also experiment with the use of this Twitter
>>> handle to increase the visibility of libraries and analytics tools to
>>> support Wikipedia research.
>>>
>>> Internships/grad student residencies. We talked briefly about research
>>> collaborations, internships and other forms of work opportunities at WMF.
>>> We're actively exploring possibilities and will broadcast details through
>>> wiki-research-l<https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wiki-research-l>and
>>> @WikiResearch <https://twitter.com/WikiResearch> when we know more.
>>>
>>> We're hiring. We are looking to expand the research team at WMF, if you
>>> are interested in working with us keep an eye on wiki-research-l and
>>> @WikiResearch for job openings or contact us off-list.
>>>
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> Wiki-research-l mailing list
>>> Wiki-research-l(a)lists.wikimedia.org
>>> https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wiki-research-l
>>>
>>>
>>
>>
>> --
>>
>> ________________________
>> Dariusz Jemielniak, Ph.D.
>> associate professor of management
>> chair of International Management
>> head of the Center for Research on Organizations and Workplaces (CROW)
>> Kozminski University
>> http://www.crow.kozminski.edu.pl
>
>
>
>... There’s also a related ... project that was piloted a few months
> ago to try and gauge gender gap in specific segments of the editor population
> or editor lifecycle via microsurveys.... I’d love to hear from other parties
> interested in using this model, which I think is promising....
Having run a mildly successful retention-oriented survey of about 330
enwiki administrators which caused me to be accused of violating a
proposed but unadopted research policy, I am still undeterred.
>> Were there any follow ups to the "annual" editor survey from 2011? A blog post
>> says the survey was anticipated to be annual. There is a page about a 2012
>> annual survey on Meta but no results are posted and it appears no follow up
>> surveys were completed in 2012 or 2013....
>
> As Tilman noted in the section of the report about surveys, at this stage it’s not
> clear if there’s bandwidth to run these surveys on an annual basis.
Is there any reason to think that the Foundation is more competent at
administering such surveys than the community?
*Apologies for cross-posting*
Call for Submissions: Papers (extended abstracts), Panels and Posters
2014 SOCIAL MEDIA & SOCIETY CONFERENCE (#SMSociety14)
September 27-28, 2014, Toronto, Canada
Conference website: http://SocialMediaAndSociety.com/
KEYNOTE: Keith N. Hampton, Rutgers University
INDUSTRY KEYNOTE: John Weigelt, National Technology Officer, Microsoft
Canada
IMPORTANT DATES
Paper & Panel Abstracts Due: April 18, 2014
Paper & Panel Notification: May 19, 2014
Poster Abstracts Due: May 23, 2014
Poster Notification: June 13, 2014
Conference Dates: September 27-28, 2014
DESCRIPTION
We live in an era of “Big Data”. Petabyte and exabyte-size datasets
are becoming increasingly common. Much of the data is coming from
social media in the form of user-generated content. What do we do with
all of these “social” data and how do we make sense of it all? What
are the inherent challenges and issues surrounding working with social
media data? How are social media platforms and the data that they
generate changing us as individuals, changing our organizations and
changing our society? Additionally what are the political, ethical,
privacy, and security implications of the wide availability of these
data? These are just a few questions that we have for this year’s
participants of the 2014 Social Media & Society Conference
(#SMSociety14).
The Social Media & Society Conference is an annual gathering of
leading social media researchers from around the world. Now, in its
5th year, the 2014 Conference will be held in Toronto, Canada from
September 27 to 28. From its inception, the conference has focused on
the best practices for studying the impact and implications of social
media on society. The conference offers an intensive two-day program
comprising of paper presentations, panel discussions, and posters
covering wide-ranging topics related to social media. Organized by the
Social Media Lab at Dalhousie University, the conference provides
attendees an opportunity to exchange ideas, present their original
research, learn about recently completed and work-in-progress studies,
and strengthen connections with their peers. Last year’s conference
hosted nearly 200 attendees, featured research from 90+ scholars and
practitioners across several fields from over 60 institutions in 15
different countries.
SUBMISSION PROCESS
We invite you to submit papers (extended abstracts), panel proposals
and posters on a variety of topics including (but not limited to!):
Social Media & Big Data, Social Media Impact on Society, Theories &
Methods, and Online/Offline Communities. Full papers are not required
for this conference, only an extended abstract (~500 words, excluding
references) on a completed or well-developed project related to the
broad theme of “Social Media & Society.” All submissions will be
peer-reviewed. If selected, the author(s) will be invited to give a
15-minute oral presentation followed by a 5 min Q&A period at the
conference.
Author(s) of accepted paper abstracts will also be invited to submit
their full papers to the new Big Data & Society Journal published by
SAGE.
Instructions for authors and more information is available at
http://SocialMediaAndSociety.com
TOPICS OF INTEREST
Social Media & Big Data
- Visualization of Social Media Data
- Social Media Data Mining
- Scalability Issues and Social Media Data
- Social Media Analytics
Social Media Impact on Society
- Private Self/Public Self
- The Sharing/Attention Economy
- Virality & Memes
- Political Mobilization & Engagement
- Social Media and Health
- Social Media and Business (Marketing, PR, HR, Risk Management, etc.)
- Social Media and Academia (Alternative Metrics. Learning Analytics, etc.)
- Social Media and Public Administration
- Social Media and the News
Theories & Methods
- Qualitative and Quantitative Approaches
- Opinion Mining and Sentiment Analysis
- Social Network Analysis
- Theoretical Models for Studying, Analysing and Understanding Social Media
Online/Offline Communities
- Trust and Credibility in Social Media
- Online Community Detection
- Influential User Detection
- Online Identity
- Case Studies of Online and/or Offline Communities Formed on Social Media
CONFERENCE ORGANIZING COMMITTEE
Anatoliy Gruzd, Dalhousie University, Canada
Barry Wellman. University of Toronto, Canada
Philip Mai, Dalhousie University, Canada
Jenna Jacobson, University of Toronto, Canada