Proposal:Clubs for 0.5 mil. & 100 thousand articles Wikipedias

Status (see valid statuses)

The status of this proposal is:
Request for Discussion / Sign-Ups

Every proposal should be tied to one of the strategic priorities below.

Edit this page to help identify the priorities related to this proposal!


  1. Achieve continued growth in readership
  2. Focus on quality content
  3. Increase Participation
  4. Stabilize and improve the infrastructure
  5. Encourage Innovation


Status (see valid statuses)

The status of this proposal is:
Request for Discussion / Sign-Ups

Every proposal should be tied to one of the strategic priorities below.

Edit this page to help identify the priorities related to this proposal!


  1. Achieve continued growth in readership
  2. Focus on quality content
  3. Increase Participation
  4. Stabilize and improve the infrastructure
  5. Encourage Innovation


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Summary

This is a proposal to set up Wikipedia clubs comprising at least 500,000 and at least 100,000 articles.

Wikipedia is generally still little known. In the so-called common awareness it functions as "some sort of an encyclopaedia written (by Internet users) on the Internet". Hardly anyone knows the true scale of this enterprise, especially in global terms.

At present the English Wikipedia already has 3 million entries, the German Wiki will soon have 1 million, nine Wikipedias have half a million, and thirty will soon have 100,000.

Proposal

My proposal is to create clubs of half-a-millions and of hundred-thousands, within which closer cooperation will start based on:

  • exchanging (translating, correcting) the content,
  • help in creating new entries,
  • exchanging experiences in technical and editorial matters, as well as the operation of the national communities, etc.
  • direct meetings (of two or more parties) and rallies, facilitating greater integration of specific national communities,
  • promoting (boasting about) the club's successes,
  • organising help for smaller Wikipedias, be it factual, editorial, technical, financial, etc.

Motivation

This initiative may significantly increase the rank of the Wikimedia projects and their social perception, as well as facilitate the recruitment of new active Wikipedians. By putting the cooperation in such organisational frames and with proper exposure of such a project, a lot can be won with little work and (financial) means:

  • the world hears about 10 half-a-million and 30 hundred-thousand Wikipedias,
  • the world hears about Wikipedians uniting, working closer internationally within organisational frames (which are stable and better known unlike an annual meeting or the Wikimedia society), organising an international Wiki community,
  • the Wikipedias which miss a few articles summon their strengths,
  • thanks to closer contacts the club member Wikipedians work more efficiently; Wikipedias make use of the experiences of other communities - further progress,
  • the clubs organise coordinated help for smaller Wiki communities - further progress,
  • the first two points ("the world...") create greater interest in Wikipedia in the global scale; result: inflow of new Wikipedians, more frequent use of the Wiki resources, leap in website popularity ranking, etc.

These are the benefits I have come up with on the spot. There may be more which I haven't thought of. But as it can already be seen, with little work a lot can be achieved globally and thus in specific national projects.

Potential costs

  • Relatively low compared to the potential benefits.
  • Costs of meets and time for translation helppages (meta, projects etc.)

Sources

See also

Community discussion

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Want to work on this proposal?

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