Wikimedia+Libraries/Program/Submission/Depths of Wikipedia: Social media for outreach + a few fun facts

Title of your proposal

Social media for outreach + a few fun facts

Name(s) and/or username(s)

Annie Rauwerda

Email address: annierau@umich.edu

Founder of Depths of Wikipedia

Topic

• Advocacy and Outreach in Local Contexts

Type of submission (Please choose one)

• Individual Presentations (15 minutes)

Keywords and hashtags

social media, humor, outreach

Abstract

For the past two years, I've posted interesting snippets from Wikipedia onto social media under the name "Depths of Wikipedia." It started as a goofy pandemic hobby and has achieved a circulation that's mind-blowingly large (at least to me) — 950,000 followers on Instagram, 540,000 followers on Twitter, and 110,000 followers on TikTok. Earlier this year, it was featured in the New York Times and the New Yorker. I've got about a million Wikipedia enthusiasts at my fingertips, many of whom have yet to edit Wikipedia. I'll share how I'm using my platform to encourage further involvement in the Wikimedia projects.

I'll spend the first five minutes talking about social media: my experience growing the page as a college student, a few tips for setting up a sustainable social media voice, and the "rules" I've set in order to not sully Wiki(p|m)edia's reputation. I'm admittedly quite casual, but I never post vandalism, for example. Wikipedia articles are rarely funny on purpose, although a few deliberate jokes have made it in (like the tag "cetacean needed" in the List of Cetaceans). That said, there's no shortage of entertainment in the online encyclopedia.

In the final ten minutes, I'll share a few weird, wild, and wonderful pages on Wikipedia — the posts that have gained the most traction. There's Chippyphus, the Greek philosopher who was rumored to have died from laughter when he saw a donkey eating figs (you just had to be there, I suppose). There are articles on topics as silly as toast sandwiches and sexually active popes; there's a list of people who have been pied and a surprisingly thorough discussion of anti-Barney humor. It's the greatest site online, at least to me, and I'm passionate about using social media to spread the wiki-love — and recruit new editors.

Expected outcomes

I hope the main takeaways are 1) entertainment and 2) an understanding of social media's power to reach potential editors

Duration (without Q&A)

15 minutes

Specific requirements

nope!

Interested attendees (Please add yourself, and you may indicate your questions to the presenter).

1. Karolingva (talk) 16:53, 18 July 2022 (UTC)
2. briing