[Wikipedia-l] Different community dynamics for this Mediterranian Wikipedia

[Mark Williamson]

Hi all,

I thought you guys might be very interested to hear this.

The first Wikipedia to have a "meetup" nearly as soon as it was
founded was the Maltese Wikipedia.

The reason for this, as some of the more geographically-inclined may
guess, is that Malta is a nation of islands, and most people live on
the main island.

So, somebody suggested on the mainpage that they meet somewhere, and
everybody worked it into their schedules and met -- the _very next
day_.

We are talking about 12 people, all the current inhabitants of this Wikipedia.

The community dynamic is very different from any existing Wikipedia
because these people have all seen each other, and if nessecary can
meet face-to-face to discuss problems without much hassle.

I recognise that a similar type of thing exists on the Icelandic
Wikipedia, and perhaps on the Faroese Wikipedia when its community
grows larger, but the unique position of Malta was also responsible
for its sudden growth from 0 to 12 active editors - people just told
other people, and within the span of a week all these people were
already involved.

I imagine that this is the ideal environment for a Wikipedia, because
it is easier to solve problems, I think, when you know all the people
and can discuss issues in person over a latte.

It will be interesting to see how this community develops!

Mark

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