Grants:IdeaLab/Wiki Loves Social

Wiki Loves Social
There is a huge pool of youth who are active on social media but do not contribute to the Wikipedia movement. They have the time but lack motivation. They have a particular mindset. We need to find a way to involve them.
idea creator
Diptanshu.D
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created on16:58, 23 February 2017 (UTC)

Project idea edit

What is the problem you're trying to solve? edit

  • A significant section of the youth are active on social media platform like facebook, instagram, whatsapp and twitter. If we can tap into this potential, the Wikipedia movement and Free Knowledge Movement can be greatly enhanced.
  • Wikipedia is not built to be a social platform. The tools of communication on Wikipedia can be enhanced to make communication between Wikipedians easier.
  • Wikipedia lacks features like easy integration of LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, Flickr and Twitter profiles.
  • Features that send Wikipedia edits as updates to Facebook friends (or similar groups) could enhance the interest in Wikipedia editing.

What is your solution? edit

We can increase the social media penetration of Wikipedia by building upon features to enhance the social media dynamics of Wikipedia. There can be a number of ways to do it.

  • A survey among Wikipedians about their social media usage and habits would possibly be the first point to start.
  • Share an Image or Share a Fact are doing impressive work. Their inspire proposal will give you more idea about this.
  • A competition can be organized about how best to do this.
  • Social media profile integration can be improved. Easy integration of LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, Flickr and Twitter profiles onto Wikipedia userpages should have a number of beneficial effects. It will also ensure that the account belongs to a real person.
  • Features that send Wikipedia edits as updates to Facebook friends (or similar groups) could enhance the interest in Wikipedia editing. Take the example of various game apps that send out notifications (with your permission of course) that you have achieved xx score in yy game and that your friend could also try reaching that score. The same could be done if you can post [Your name] has made his 100th edit on Wikipedia. He is creating an impact. You too can. Join hands with him in this endeavour.

Project goals edit

This project tries to ensure a better participation of the social media enthusiasts into Wikipedia.

Who will you be doing outreach with? edit

  • Contributors from Wikimedia India Chapter.
  • Participants of #TTT17
  • Participants of MediaWiki Training 2017 #MWT2016.
  • Anybody else who is interested.

Get Involved edit

About the idea creator edit

I have been a Wikipedian for 9 years. I contribute mainly to medical articles on English Wikipedia.

Participants edit

Endorsements edit

  • Important idea. Csisc (talk) 11:26, 24 February 2017 (UTC)
  • In many ways, communication on Wikipedia feels outdated. Improving communication and making it easier would cause more people to be interested in editing Wikipedia. CoolieCoolster (talk) 18:36, 26 February 2017 (UTC)
  • This will scare Wikipedia's Old Guard, so I'm all for it! Calexit (talk) 02:41, 27 February 2017 (UTC)
  • This should be helpful to promote the movement and related projects. -- Tito Dutta (talk) 08:32, 3 March 2017 (UTC)
  • Social media helps many ways in promoting Wikimedia projects. --Pavan santhosh.s (talk) 12:48, 13 March 2017 (UTC)

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No funding needed? edit

Does 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!