Dear all,
Greetings! Here's an update on the Social Media pilot programhttp://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/India_Program/Pilot_Designs/Social_Media. Just a small recap before I go on to the numbers.
*Why Facebook?* Why we decided to go with Facebook at all is because potential new editors are more comfortable and familiar with the channel. To illustrate, after outreach sessions, we tried staying in touch with around 100 participants using a combination of email and talk page messages and got just 3 responses. When we sent an invite to a Facebook page where they could get help and inputs on how to edit, we got 300 signed up in less than 3 days. Also, social media requires relatively lower investments of time and resources from our community and many Internet savvy people are comfortable using it. The Social Media program was started in order to effectively utilize platforms like Facebook and community groups there (like the Odia Wikipedia group, Kannada Wikipedia group) in order to engage more new editors and give them basic lessons on editing.
However, running a Facebook group is very different from using Facebook for personal updates. That's why after observing how these groups work and interacting with a few editors who started these groups, we developed a systematic 19 point guide that looks at various aspects of how to do use Facebook effectively including aspects like discipline in messaging, structuring the interactions, tone of messaging, selecting articles, being cautious with Wikispeak etc. (Of course, it keeps in mind WP:NOTFACEBOOK.)
Here's a sneak peek into what we've been doing on two different groups:
1) You can also write on Wikipediahttps://www.facebook.com/groups/wikipediasupport/
This group was primarily started to give lessons in English editing. Although all of us use social network sites, it is important to understand that the way we interact on Wikipedia is very different from Facebook. This is the gap we are trying to bridge through more deliberate messaging. As mentioned in the detailed program guidehttp://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/India_Program/Pilot_Designs/Social_Media#Process, we try and do regular editing sessions with fun, interesting articles that have adequate space for improvement (therefore making it easier for new editors to make their first edits.)
Through a series of 5 basic tasks like creating a username, correcting a spelling mistake, adding a line of information, adding a reference and adding an interwiki link, we try and get the user to make their first 5 edits in less than 10 minutes. Our initial experiments show promise and of the 400+ members right now, over 30 users have participated in these mini-editing sessions and have now edited for the very first time. (You can see their usernames in the dochttps://www.facebook.com/groups/wikipediasupport/doc/353268748054711/on the group; do note that are the names of 7 existing editors also on that list, who are the mentors.)
To cite examples, User: Zamsamhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Contributions/Zamsam(a young new editor) came to the group and wanted to create the article on cricketer Ajit Chandila http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ajit_Chandila. Once we helped him create the article, he started contributing to Chandila's article and moved on to another cricketer, Manvinder Bisla'shttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manvinder_Bislaarticle. Similarly, User:10gible http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Contributions/10giblejoined us to edit the article on Lalu Prasad Yadav http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lalu_Prasad_Yadav while User:Neeasmaverickhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Contributions/Neeasmaverickedited the article on his college, Jawaharlal Nehru University http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jawaharlal_Nehru_University, Vicky Donor http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vicky_Donor and Amul girlhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amul_girland User:Saranshkatariahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Contributions/Saranshkatariaedited Aloo Chaat http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aloo_Chaat and Rasgullahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rasgulla.
This could not have been possible without a group of wonderful mentors like Debanjan, Karthik, Deepon, Sheel, Pratik and Harsh who volunteered and constantly keep helping new editors. We had Skype calls and regular chats just to ensure that we connect with new users in a way they find most comfortable.
The first hurdle of getting new editors to do a set of basic tasks has been crossed for some. The challenge going forward will always be is to sustain the interest of these new editors and make them long term editors hopefully by multiple editing sessions. That still needs to be figured out. Any inputs, comments and help are welcome.
2) Odia Wikipedia group https://www.facebook.com/groups/OdiaWiki/
This group caters to Odia Wikipedians as well as people who speak the language and might be interested in knowing about Wikipedia. We used similar techniques as above to expand the group conversations beyond existing Wikipedians and encourage new editors to participate.
Once when an article on Handia https://or.wikipedia.org/wiki/Handia (a local beverage) was posted, a new User:Swetapadmahttps://or.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=%E0%AC%AC%E0%AD%8D%E0%AD%9F%E0%AC%AC%E0%AC%B9%E0%AC%BE%E0%AC%B0%E0%AC%95%E0%AC%BE%E0%AC%B0%E0%AD%80:Swetapadma07&action=edit&redlink=1came forward to contribute images. Since then, she has been contributing to articles on Odia cuisine and adding images to articles on Tribes of Odisha. User:Hellohappyhttps://or.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E0%AC%AC%E0%AD%8D%E0%AD%9F%E0%AC%AC%E0%AC%B9%E0%AC%BE%E0%AC%B0%E0%AC%95%E0%AC%BE%E0%AC%B0%E0%AD%80:Hellohappyedited the article on Capital High School, Bhubaneswarhttps://or.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capital_High_School,_Bhubaneswar .
So far almost 10 new users have joined in and made their first few edits in the past month. Given the small size of Indic communities, this could be a very effective way of encouraging newbies. This also helps because it means that it filters in those who have Internet connectivity, are passionate about the language and (in most cases) are familiar with typing in Indic languages).
Again, this was done with the help of existing Odia Wikipedians like Gorvachove, Mrutyunjay Kar, Gyanranjan Sahu, Suratha Parhi, Diptiman and others.
*Challenges*: Now that we've figured out a way of engaging so many new editors and getting them to make their first 5 edits, the challenge is to integrate them into our community and make sure they continue editing. Also, it would be ideal to expand this initiative to other Indic and Wikipedia user groups. (I am already working with the Kannada community and I know that Wikipedia Club Pune has already been trying something similar). I would like to invite all community members interested to write to me ( noopur@wikimedia.org) and then we can have a brief skype call and figure how to implement it for your group.
[1] http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/India_Program/Pilot_Designs/Social_Media [2] https://www.facebook.com/groups/wikipediasupport/ [3] http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/India_Program/Pilot_Designs/Social_Media#Proc... [4] https://www.facebook.com/groups/wikipediasupport/doc/353268748054711/ [5] https://www.facebook.com/groups/OdiaWiki/
Regards, Noopur