Submissions:2025/Editor retention differences across communities
This submission has been noted and is pending review for WikiConference North America 2025.
Title:
- Editor retention differences across communities
Type of session:
- Lecture (15-30 min)
Session theme(s):
- Missing pieces, Future of Wikipedia
Abstract:
How does editor retention differ across different topical editing communities on the English Wikipedia? What aspects of editor experience, especially in the first years of editing, can explain these differences?
This presentation will present possible answers to these questions and possible areas of improvement, based on Wikipedia database dumps, viewed in light of editors' individual narratives and relevant scholarship on member retention, loyalty, and social support theory.
This presentation will focus primarily on participation in WikiProject-tagged articles as a metric of participation in the relevant editor community. However, because there is no single way of defining editor communities or editor experiences, this presentation will also examine cross-cutting categorizations such as article recency, activity, geotag status, and BLP status.
The presentation will conclude with recommendations for maintaining and improving editor retention as an aspect of good community stewardship on Wikipedia.
Author name(s):
Wikimedia username(s):
Affiliated organization(s):
Estimated length of session
- 30 minutes (20 min speaking, 10 discussion)
Will you be presenting remotely?
- I will present in-person
Okay to livestream?
- Livestreaming is okay
Previously presented?
- No
Special requests: