Wikimedia Research/Showcase/Archive/2015/10
October 2015[edit]
October 21, 2015 Video: YouTube
- The impact of the Wikipedia Teahouse on new editor retention
- By Jonathan Morgan, Aaron Halfaker
- New Wikipedia editors face a variety of social and technical barriers to participation. These barriers have been shown to cause even promising, highly-motivated newcomers to give up and leave Wikipedia shortly after joining.[1] The Wikipedia Teahouse was launched in 2012 to provide new editors with a space on Wikipedia where they could ask questions, introduce themselves, and learn the ropes of editing in a friendly and supportive environment, with the goal of increasing the percentage of good-faith newcomers who go on to become productive Wikipedians. Research has shown[2][3] that the Teahouse provided a positive experience for participants, and suggested[4] that participating in the Teahouse led to more editing activity and longer survival for new editors who participated. The current study[5] examines the impact of Teahouse invitations on new editors survival over a longer period of time (2-6 months), and presents findings related to contextual factors within editors' first few sessions that are associated with overall survival rate and editing patterns associated with increased likelihood of visiting the Teahouse.
- By Jonathan Morgan, Aaron Halfaker