Grants:IdeaLab/Eradicating Distrust
Project idea
editWhat is the problem you're trying to solve?
editA issue that is prevalent throughout modern education is that there is a distrust for using Wikipedia, as it is often seen as a source that is not credible.
What is your solution?
editI feel that by hosting talks at schools, colleges and universities, trust can be gained from the wider community, and it can lead to others contributing their knowledge to Wikipedia.
Who will you be doing outreach with?
editLocal educational institutions throughout the South of England. And other cities around the world incuding those in developing countries.
Goals
editAs we will conduct outreaches and talk events with various institutions our goal is to educate the people about wikimedia so that the institutions and the community at large can consider wikipedia as a credible source .we will explain to the people why the fact that anyone can edit is an advantage.Many people are going to fully understand the wikimedia project and its goals and they are going to consider wikimedia as a trustworthy source. We are also going to get as much of the educational and community institutions to contribute to wikimedia projects ,more involvment means more ideas that will improve wikimedia projects . Guided by the six accounts rule we make sure as much of new users as we can engage with, make their first edits.Regular to experienced users will be encouraged to continue doing a great job emproving wikimedia content.
Get Involved
editAbout the idea creator
editI have been creating pages on Wikipedia for Myanmar, sufficiently researching their military and contributing greatly to the insignia base on the website.
Participants
edit- Volunteer Hi, I am from Telangana, India. I really liked this idea & would like to contribute from my end. If it is fine, I can take care of the institutions here. But need some guidance form your end. Mahesh432 (talk) 19:28, 31 January 2017 (UTC)
- Volunteer Popcrate (talk)
I find this very important. I'll add /refine more ideas, but here's a start:
Showcase some specifics that go into the wikipedia process:
- neutral point of view
- the fact that anybody can edit (not everybody realizes it
- ruthless community, that I am just now starting to meet :)
- maybe some of the specific bots and anti-vandalism tools?
- Point out that LINKS to references and externals can be valuable starting points for learning and research (even if the article isn't quite there yet, and/or because you can't cite a wikipedia page itself)
Ways to achieve this: (just some quick thoughts)
- Host some websites separate from wikipedia that specifically showcase the above ^
- social media perhaps? with links to featured articles or recent developments etc. etc. (I'm not sure if this is already happening or not)
Side Note: TBH I'm personally starting to trust wikipedia more and more, and random BS on the Internet less and less. Popcrate (talk) 21:44, 2 February 2017 (UTC)
- Volunteer I would like to help eradicate distrust with Wikipedia, by helping organise and advertise Wikipedia talks around East Australia, as well as promote the idea of adding citations and re-assuring members of Wikipedia's quality. ItsPugle (talk) 22:48, 2 February 2017 (UTC)
- Volunteer My name is Nelson , I'm in Africa Zimbabwe, i have been editing some articles for some time now and i feel like this is very important, Wikipedia is not considered a trustworthy source i would be grateful getting a chance to mobile and host events , as a way to enlighten people more about Wikipedia, I'm sure through such some events we can achieve a lot on making Wikipedia credible and engaging the community to contribute to Wikipedia. Nelson65105 (talk) 21:02, 3 February 2017 (UTC)
Endorsements
edit- As a Wikipedia editor and student, I feel the value of Wikipedia is significantly underestimated by education, especially in American institutions. I am willing to fully endorse and participate in this idea. Vami IV (talk) 22:22, 2 February 2017 (UTC)
- I can't agree enough with this idea; People, especially our younger generation, need to understand that there is a large amount of people working on Wikipedia to patrol edits, and make sure that everything is cited. I personally would scream with joy if Wikipedia did a talk at my college! ItsPugle (talk) 22:46, 2 February 2017 (UTC)
- Being a student myself, I often hear teachers say something like "Wikipedia is NOT a credible source" after being assigned research project. I couldn't disagree more. Wikipedia is the greatest collection of knowledge is all of human history! This discourages students from contributing to Wikipedia and makes Wikipedia an untrustworthy source in their eyes. This project is absolutely something I fully support. TheUnstoppableJ (talk) 02:08, 3 February 2017 (UTC)
- I think that this is an interesting idea and a great start - you might want to expand this a little and maybe even do some edit-a-thons with some of the institutions as well. Tokyogirl79 (talk) 07:16, 3 February 2017 (UTC)
- I am sick of hearing that wikipedia is not a credible source because "anyone can edit it." Haslantis (talk) 09:00, 6 February 2017 (UTC)
- Wikimedia projects are great, countless editors have poured hours into it. It needs to be used more within the educational community, and gain back trust. Liance (talk) 04:12, 19 February 2017 (UTC)
- Nice idea! People need to realize that Wikipedia is one of the most reliable and neutral sources of knowledge out there, and that's because a lot of people from varying perspectives contribute to each topic on the platform.--Jamie Tubers (talk) 21:21, 23 February 2017 (UTC)
Expand your idea
editWould a grant from the Wikimedia Foundation help make your idea happen? You can expand this idea into a grant proposal.
No funding needed?
editDoes your idea not require funding, but you're not sure about what to do next? Not sure how to start a proposal on your local project that needs consensus? Contact Chris Schilling on-wiki at I JethroBT (WMF) (talk · contribs) or via e-mail at cschilling
wikimedia.org for help!