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Wikimedia Diversity Conference 2013/Documentation/Drafted Statement

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Roundup-Session 5 - talking points to frame the issue of Diversity for Wikimedia

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NOTE: some of the session notes below have now been used to create a new page on meta wiki called Diversity. Please help grow and improve that page directly!

Background:

  • We don't have clear talking points on (a proclamation) about why diversity matters to the Wikimedia movement
  • WMDE has already looked into the issues and researched it, but a long paper may not have such a strong impact for the whole of the community. A short statement with some key talking points may have more impact.

(ref: https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Diversity_Conference/Further_Reading_working_paper )

Goals: - have a page on meta-wiki on "diversity" to show it in local communities - include call to action for those wanting to get involved


TOWARDS A STATEMENT FOR META (this will be put on a new page called "Diversity"):

1. What does diversity mean for Wikimedia?

Diversity means both variety and difference, and it fosters equality and inclusion.

When we talk about diversity in Wikimedia we refer both to having a diversity both in terms of base of contributors and the content we create.

The diversity in the Wikimedia projects should be a mirror and a representation of the diversity of the world (see p.2).


2. Why is diversity important to Wikimedia?

Diversity directly connects to Wikimedia movement values: freedom, accessibility and quality, independence, openness and diversity, transparency, community.

The basis of our projects is to create "free content that anyone can edit, use, modify, and distribute." Our goal is to share the sum of ALL human knowledge with every person on the planet. Having diverse contributors and content is necessary to achieving this.

3. What are we trying to change and how?

In order to have diversity of content, we must attract a diverse user base. And in order to accomplish this, we must create an open and welcoming environment for all contributors. This means that we are not only welcoming and supportive to people from all backgrounds, but that we actively invite, support, and engage diverse contributors in building our projects and advancing our mission.

As such, the aim of diversity initiatives in the Wikimedia movement is to raise awareness, increase understanding, and encourage contributions to our projects from people of any age, gender, sexual orientation, language, nationality, race, ethnicity, religion, political affiliation, geographical location, physical and intellectual ability, mental and emotional health, and so forth.


Things we may want to add to this statement/meta page later on:

4. What are some resources, toolkits, stories, or examples that we want anyone interested in working on this issue to be aware of?

5. What are the gaps in knowledge about diversity in our communities?

This would be space to be clear about what we don't know yet.


---Notes---

  • As a movement with the mission of sharing the sum of all human knowledge with every person on the planet, Wikimedia's community should be a mirror and representation of the rich diversity that exists in human society. Diversity is about fostering equality and inclusion across all cross-sections of age, gender, sexual orientation, language, nationality, race, ethnicity, religion, political affiliation, geography, physical ability, psychological condition, and other types of variety. Diversity in the Wikimedia movement means that we are not only welcoming and supportive to people from all variety of backgrounds and types, but that we actively invite, support, and engage diverse contributors in building our projects and advancing our mission. Encouraging diversity ensures that no people are excluded from our projects. Encouraging diversity means that we hold having a diversity of contributors as a great strength in achieving our goal of sharing knowledge. People come to our projects with different backgrounds, views, styles, and experiences. The more points of view we have, the better able we will be to reflect the full diversity of human knowledge, and to represent it completely and fairly. The power of crowds is greater when there are a diversity of voices adding to the conversation, and the power of crowds is greatest when the whole crowd is represented rather than just a sub-group of it. Each person is a part of the human crowd, and each person should be well represented in developing humanity's shared source of free knowledge. When we talk about gaps in diversity on Wikipedia, we mean that we are *missing* people. We are losing out on the full breadth and depth of human interests and perspectives. We will be better able to share knowledge with the world when we are drawing on the strengths and talents and views of more people from more backgrounds. Encouraging diversity is not about disparaging existing contributors, or anyone being "wrong"; it's about adding and amplifying more voices, especially those that have been left out thus far. Exclusion is not always intentional--indeed, it's often completely accidental--but we are still better off and better able to share knowledge when we include more people in that process.
  • We began to talk about gendergap when we found that we haven't so many new users as before. Not only women, but many minorities may help Wikipedia to grow in the future; people is the most value of movement, and 'people' means not only 'white educated man', you know. So we love everybody.
  • We may follow simple steps: awareness, ???, win.
  • We brainstormed this two years ago at the WikiWomen Conference in Argentina. We are still brainstorming this now. We need tangible proof that this matters and we're doing something about it.
  • Difficult, as it may only gather some more ideas, rather than facts supporting the ideas.


NEXT STEPS:

  • Create a Diversity page on meta with what we started and create room to sign on (make clear it is a draft) - Siko   Done
  • Add the link to the Diversity Conference meta docs pages - Siko
  • Email everyone a followup reminder to sign on to the meta statement and improve it- Tim   Done
  • Write the coherent text :) - all!

Working group's email addresses: bdamokos@gmail.com timmoritz.hector@wikipedia.de jorlowitz@gmail.com lvova@wikimedia.ru sbouterse@wikimedia.org daria.cybulska@wikimedia.org.uk nicole.ebber@wikimedia.de akoval@wikimedia.org patrick.kenel@wikimedia.ch

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