This discussion comes back every year. Every year we get the same
reassurance that it's being looked into, that we'll try to do better, that
things have been tested, etc.
The reality of the matter is that the alarmist and misleading stuff
*works*. And that it's most probably not going anywhere. Just like last
year and the year before.
On Wed, 18 Dec 2019, 22:58 Samuel Klein, <meta.sj(a)gmail.com> wrote:
I've heard this asked this by 3-4 people recently
* A family member (checking in to make sure things were ok)
* A local grantmaker (who likewise has supported WP at least once before)
* A couple undergrads (on phones, asking eachother what to do if WP went
down during finals)
All worried either that there had bee some sudden change, or that knowledge
or access would be lost in the near future. Perhaps there's a way to reach
the same people while highlighting our commitment to persistent access to
knowledge across time. And maybe a way to measure interpretation or
reaction to a banner in addition to its conversion rate. [Some banners are
so delightful that they are a welcome improvement to a page without; and
I've occasionally thought we should run some of those, w/ low probability,
continuously year-round.]
Wikilove,
SJ
On Wed, Dec 18, 2019 at 4:38 PM Fæ <faewik(a)gmail.com> wrote:
Sadly I had a similar experience only this
weekend.
We were enjoying a going away lunch with friends who are out of the
country over Christmas, when one of them asked about Wikipedia's
problems, knowing that I often volunteer time to it. He claimed that
the site was spamming screen-sized pop-up banners trying to raise
money because they were going bust. I had to advise him how wealthy
the Foundation was, with hundreds of staff and extra cash in an
endowment fund.
Isn't it about time that the Wikimedia Foundation came to terms that
/plenty/ of money is made through sensible fundraising, without every
year embarrassing the whole Wikimedia Community by promoting the
impression that Wikipedia is about to close down if the public don't
give them enough money to keep their servers powered up over
Christmas? Making 10% more money every year is growth for the sake of
it unless we can understand in an accountable and transparent way
where that extra 10% is needed; preferably right there in the
fundraising banner so folks don't get the impression that Wikipedia is
about to vanish.
Thanks,
Fae
On Wed, 18 Dec 2019 at 20:34, Jacob Jose <jacob.jose(a)gmail.com> wrote:
>
> I also felt like how Benjamin's dad did.. If one is viewing using the
> mobile app, the red banners fill the entire screen and one has to
scroll
> down to get to the content. I think the fund
solicitation ads need to
be
> much less loud than it's now..
>
> Background: I have been an active Wiki contributor for over 10 years
now.
>
> On Wed, Dec 18, 2019 at 2:27 PM Benjamin Ikuta <
benjaminikuta(a)gmail.com>
wrote:
>
>
> My dad recently said to me:
>
> "I was solitated by them after looking something up. I thought it
strange
> > the way they were pleading for donations. They made it sound like
they
>
might be shutting down if we the general public didn't donate."
>
> Has there been any research into how common it is for readers to get
the
> wrong impression from the marketing
messaging?
>
> I've heard of this sort of thing happening before, and I think it's
highly
> > antithetical to our values to be deceptive.
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > _______________________________________________
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