I've been involved in this lengthy circular debate: What should be the
autoconfirmed age and article count in the Hebrew Wikipedia? See
https://phabricator.wikimedia.org/T243076 if you curious about this
particular one, but I'd love to ask a more global question:
How were these numbers calculated originally?
For the account age, the default is four days, or five or seven days for a
few wikis.
For the edit count, the default is zero, but several wikis have 5, 10, 25,
or 50.
(See
https://noc.wikimedia.org/conf/highlight.php?file=InitialiseSettings.php
and search for "wgAutoConfirmAge" and "wgAutoConfirmCount".)
Some wikis have groups, usually called "extended confirmed", and with
higher counts; for example, 500 edits in English and some other languages
(search for wmgAutopromoteOnceonEdit on the same page).
So, how did the people arrive at these numbers? Why is it four days by
default? Is it all just intuition and guesses, or was there any research
behind it?
Is it *good* that four days is the default for everyone, until someone
bothers to update it (most wikis don't)? Or is it just a coincidence that
was defined for a certain wiki and applied elsewhere? And when it's
updated, why is it updated to one number and not some other?
While I am an ardent supporter of the "anyone can edit" principle, it makes
general sense to have some restrictions based on edit count, account age,
and perhaps other parameters. But HOW are they calculated? Would it make
sense to anyone to start making some calculations around it and optimize
the number for wikis of different sizes?
I'd imagine that there could be a calculation that says "in a given wiki,
the chance of being reverted or blocked goes down after X days and X
edits", and this number is probably different for every wiki (maybe there
already is such a calculation somewhere). This could possibly be a starting
point for a good calculation of a threshold; it wouldn't be perfect,
because in some wikis it can perpetuate community practices which may be
biased against new editors, but at least it's based on data and not on
guesses.
In the English Wikipedia 2016 discussion[1] about adding the "extended
confirmed" group, I found one comment, by User:Opabinia regalis, which
corresponds to my thinking on the topic: "The thresholds being used for
these restrictions are essentially arbitrary, and we don't have a strong
evidence base yet that they are well-chosen."
Perhaps after twenty years we could start actually calculating these
thresholds, and not just come up with arbitrary numbers? Or is there really
no demand for smart and research-based decisions about these thresholds?
[1]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Village_pump_(proposals)/Archive_12…
--
Amir Elisha Aharoni · אָמִיר אֱלִישָׁע אַהֲרוֹנִי
http://aharoni.wordpress.com
“We're living in pieces,
I want to live in peace.” – T. Moore
Reminder!!!
Hello friends
Today is the Nigeria independence day anniversary, join us across the
globe to celebrate the birth of our Nation by editing any Nigeria related
articles in your language on @Wikipedia and please add #NG to your summary.
Let's do it together .
We love ❤️ you all!!!
Olushola Olaniyan
President Wikimedia User Group Nigeria
Hello, all. :)
I hope and trust that everyone is keeping well during these times!
I’m Maggie Dennis, Vice President of the Community Resilience &
Sustainability group of Wikimedia Foundation, within the Legal department.
I wanted to announce with pleasure that Maria Sefidari has agreed to
consult with the Foundation on Movement Strategy and the ongoing Board
evolution for the upcoming year. Many of us know María from her role as the
chair of the Wikimedia Foundation Board of Trustees, from which she
provided invaluable leadership in governance, oversight, and fundraising.
Others may know her from her volunteer work as User:Raystorm
<https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Raystorm>, in which she has a broad
range of experience.
María, based in Spain, commenced her assignment with the Foundation this
week. We intend to tap into her expertise and knowledge of the Foundation
to support a successful implementation of the Movement’s Strategy and to
tap into new opportunities. (With her Board work, she will be supporting
Quim Gil’s team with the Board election and helping Margo Lee in improving
onboarding, documentation practices, and training.) María will report to me
as part of our Community Resilience & Sustainability group. I’m excited
that she accepted our offer for a more hands-on assignment, particularly
given how important all of the work she’ll be supporting is. :) With more
than 15 years of Wikimedia experience, her contributions in the next phase
will be a tremendous benefit to me and my team as we continue settling into
our own work on Movement Strategy.
Those of you who are involved with Movement Strategy are used to seeing her
at related meetings and still will. :) I anticipate María will be joining
one or more of the Movement Strategy global conversations
<https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Movement_Strategy/Updates/June_15,_2021>
this weekend. Advertisement alert: maybe you can, too? Here’s more detail
<https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Movement_Strategy/Updates/June_15,_2021>!
I myself will be attending at least one of those sessions and look forward
to seeing some of you there.
Warm regards,
Maggie
--
Maggie Dennis
She/her/hers
Vice President, Community Resilience & Sustainability
Wikimedia Foundation, Inc.