On Fri, Apr 23, 2010 at 1:04 AM, teun spaans <teun.spaans(a)gmail.com> wrote:
Glad someone brings this up.
There are some longstanding questions that I have about wiki(p/m)edia usage
by NON-wiki(p/m)edians (called wikipedians from here on).
I regard a wikipedian as someone who is registered and logged in, and a
non-wikipedian as someone who is not logged in.
That is a choice, something can be said to regard people who are registered
and logged in but never edited anything as non wikipedians, but the
definition above is a bit simpler.
Some questions:
- Where do they non-wikipedians from? Google, favourites/bookmarks?
Search engine results, sometimes prepared materials with links to Wikipedia,
as well as forum discussions.
- How do search? Do they use the search box, or do
they arrive from google
and use google for their search?
Mainly search engines. Most conversations I've had feature it's easy to
customize a search engine result if needed. Most of the time it's not,
because the first result for Wikipedia will be the relevant one.
- Do non-wikipedians use the search box or do they use
out internal
hyperlinks?
Internal hyperlinks for the most part. Most people searching for
information will start with the basic, and the hope is that they understand
the internal linking. It's caught on for most websites.
- How many pages do they visit on average before they
find what they are
looking for? And what is the spread?
I think most get through about five tabs before closing.
- Do they use categories for navigation? Or are
categories just a hobby or
tool of wikipedians? If they use the categories for navigation, to what
extend?
Categories are used both as a hobby and a help. They are usually used when
users request assistance on finding information. I wouldn't say they are
browsed unless pointed to or just curiosity. Similar to a library, they are
an organizational tool for those that enjoy doing that, and come in need
when referenced.
- Do non wikipedians use the interlanguage links, and
to what extend?
That is an issue that I always implore. The base of the English Wikipedia
is both native speakers of the language and non-native speakers. Non-native
speakers seem to work on the English Wikipedia to improve their language
skills, which is great. It would also be great if we can develop a method
of encouraging them building their native language wiki to help them learn
as well. I suppose it's not as interesting in the community. Conversely,
it would be ideal if native English speakers with a working knowledge of
another language would contribute there. This would also mean that the
local communities would have to accept bad grammar. That's a local issue.
- and no doubt others will be able to contribute even
more questions.
Non-wikipedians in a sense are our "customers", and to make wikipedia as
useful as possible, i believe we should learn about their behaviour on
wikipedia.
Absolutely correct there. This is a free product, and the userbase is far
exceeded by the consumerbase. There's more to talk about there for a
different thread.
live long and prosper
teun spaans
My responses are not from a scientific standpoint. I don't have any hard
data, but I live in a college town and regularly ask people about their use
of Wikimedia products.
--
~Keegan
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Keegan