We are sharing with the privacy policy right now. There's probably no flexibility
there - the WMF really likes its silly banners. Like anyone in the public actually cares
about our privacy policy - Facebook's is the only one that matters to anyone. Rants
aside, I think we just need something that is clearer - Wiki Loves Monuments: Historic
sites, photos, and prizes! means nothing - we need a verb to fix this.
Date: Wed, 11 Sep 2013 12:41:30 -0400
From: pdekman(a)gmail.com
To: wikilovesmonuments(a)lists.wikimedia.org
Subject: [Wiki Loves Monuments] drop off in submissions, banner
I too have noticed a drop off in photos submitted in the last few days. It's fairly
important to determine what caused the drop off if we can. It might be something totally
outside of our control, e.g. the situation in Syria, but might be something like a change
in banner display, which we do have some control over. Did the drop happen in most
countries? We don't have full control over all Wikimedia banners - we do have to share
the space with others, but perhaps they might be willing to delay some of their displays
if we ask nicely.
I do agree that changing the banner from time-to-time can help. I don't agree that a
banner of ""Participate in the world's largest photo-contest and help
Wikipedia," would help any. The imperative verb "Participate" is very
weak, and is not natural to American English speakers. It suggests a high school home
economics teacher telling us that we have to bring cookies to the annual bake-off.
Something more active is definitely needed, something along the line (but not exactly) of
a high school football coach saying "Go out there and kick some butt!" That
would definitely get some attention as a banner, but not the exact type of attention we
want. A teaser ad might work however, e.g. "About your photos on Wikipedia ....
(smaller type) upload them to Wiki Loves Monuments"
"Snap" might be a verb we want to use. It gives an idea of the action that we
want people to take (snap a snapshot), unlike "participate." So perhaps
"Snap a historic site, Wiki Loves Monuments" It could wake people up. Or maybe
"Snap a snapshot for Wikipedia". As a noun "It's a snap, Wiki Loves
Monuments"
I don't think these ideas are good enough yet for an actual banner, but I think that
folks should brain-storm this and come up with new ideas. Straight informative banners
can sound bureaucratic or just boring. Different languages or dialects should be
considered separately, as translations are really tricky, e.g. "It's a snap"
might mean something entirely different in British English
PeteUser:Smallbones
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