[Foundation-l] hiding interlanguage links by default is a Bad Idea, part 2

[Amir E. Aharoni]

2010/6/2 Gregory Maxwell <gmaxwell at gmail.com>
>
> On Wed, Jun 2, 2010 at 2:13 PM, Amir E. Aharoni
> <amir.aharoni at mail.huji.ac.il> wrote:
> > Hello,
> >
> > For part 1, see [1].
> >
> > In his reply to User experience feedback [2], Howief says: "the language
> > links were used relatively infrequently based on tracking data".
> >
> > Is there any data about their usage since the switch to Vector?
>
> They were equally valuable as a marketing statement about the breadth
> and inclusiveness of our project as they were as a navigational tool.
>
> Concealing them behind the languages box also significantly reduces
> discoverability for the people who need it most: Someone who, through
> following links, ends up on a wikipedia which is not in their primary
> language. Before they needed to scroll down past a wall of difficult
> to read foreign language, now they need to do that and expand some
> foreign language box.
>
> In my opinion, the world is not best served by hyper-optimizing for
> the most frequent and shallow interests of the largest majorities.

That's exactly my opinion, too. I am trying to back it with data.

--
אָמִיר אֱלִישָׁע אַהֲרוֹנִי
Amir Elisha Aharoni

http://aharoni.wordpress.com

"We're living in pieces,
I want to live in peace." - T. Moore