[Wikimedia-l] Editor retention (was Re: "Big data" benefits and limitations (relevance: WMF editor engagement, fundraising, and HR practices))

[Federico Leva (Nemo)]

David Gerard, 09/01/2013 00:32:
> On 8 January 2013 23:27, Kim Bruning<kim at bruning.xs4all.nl>  wrote:
>
>> I think that the requirements for a wiki (open, welcoming, anyone can edit,
>> eventualism) are always going to be at tension vs the requirements for an
>> encyclopedia (reliable, good sourcing, etc).
>> Right now, en.wikipedia rules are more complex and potentially more
>> strict than nupedia ever was, and we're running on inertia.
>
>
> I understand the decline is similar in other wikis - that this is not
> at all just an en:wp problem.
>
> How are the numbers for the other Wikipedias? How are the numbers for
> the non-Wikipedias?

The main pattern, ie a turning point in 2007, is the same in all 
projects, and almost in all language versions of them:
http://stats.wikimedia.org/EN/PlotsPngWikipediansEditsGt5.htm
http://stats.wikimedia.org/wiktionary/EN/PlotsPngWikipediansEditsGt5.htm
http://stats.wikimedia.org/wikiquote/EN/PlotsPngWikipediansEditsGt5.htm
http://stats.wikimedia.org/wikisource/EN/PlotsPngWikipediansEditsGt5.htm
(in order of project size/pageviews; graphs don't include recent data, 
https://bugzilla.wikimedia.org/42318 )
Typically the pattern is the same across all projects in the same 
language. (Almost?) all Russian projects, for instance, are an exception 
to decline.
This has often made people wonder if the causes are external (Facebook? 
Facebook is also almost non-existing in Russia, right?).

Nemo