Wikimedia Fan Club and Network in Nigeria/History

History

Programs

Wikimedia Fan Club is an outreach program designed by Wikimedia User Group Nigeria (WUGN) with the aim of taking Wikimedia projects to all the tertiary institutions in Nigeria. The project was conceptualized to support the result of the New Readers Outreach Survey conducted in Nigeria in the year 2016. The result of the survey revealed that only 23% internet users in Nigeria are aware of Wikipedia. Out of the 23% population that have shown awareness of Wikipedia are the Nigerian students with 43%. It also worthy of note that more than 90% Nigerian only perceive Wikipedia as a search engine.

Each club is a registered association in all the designated institution and is coordinated by executives, which are appointed by the member of the club. The head of the club shall be called Coordinator

Target Audience

Nigerian editors

The problems that the projects meant to address

Changing the narrative about Wikipedia being a search engine
The myth against the use of Wikipedia to support education program or learning purpose.
Many Nigerian students do not believe that Wikipedia can be edited. The belief is that Wikipedia is written by the staff of Wikimedia Foundation.

What do we plan to do to ameliorate the mentioned challenges

Launching of Wikimedia Fan Club as register units in major Universities in Nigeria.
Recruitment of student volunteers that will manage the club from time to time.
Periodic training using experience editors to nurture the club from time to time.

Core Design Elements

Recruiting members and kick starting

Recruiting club members - We'll conduct an outreach session at an institute and inform the participants about Wikipedia Club and the kind of activities club organizes. If the participants share a strong interest in Wikimedia movement and Wikipedia editing; they can get together with several of their friends or fellow colleagues and may consider forming a Wikipedia Club.

Training club members - Once the group decides to set up the club, Wikimedia UG Nigeria will help them kick off the first few sessions of Wikipedia editing training. All members who plan to become members of the club will have to attend these mandatory training sessions. Major topics covered will include: an overview of the Wikipedia, fundamental Wikipedia-editing skills, expectations and responsibilities for Wikipedia Clubs, tips on working with other Wikipedia Clubs set up in other regions, and Wikipedia communication protocols. The orientation will be interactive and hands-on.

Regular activities organized by the club

Clubs can conduct regular constructive and fun activities around Wikipedia and free knowledge, such as:

Edit-a-thons - Select an article of common interest to all the Club Members. Choose a preferred date and time (at least 2 - 3 hours) when all Club Members edit the same article. You may decide to organize an edit-a-thon in a common room (where computers and internet facility would be required for editing) or Club Members can edit the same article at the same time but sit remotely in the comfort of their respective living rooms. For more information on how to run an edit-a-thon click here.

Photo-thons - Have fun walking around the city together to click pictures of famous landmarks, buildings, amusement parks etc; or visit a science, art, or history museum to click pictures of various artifacts; or visit cultural exhibitions or fests to click pictures of local food items, various dance forms etc. Add all these pictures on Wikimedia Commons and use these pictures in various Wikipedia articles. For more information on how to run a photo-thon click here.

Wikipedia trivia and games night - Who thought you could play fun games on Wikipedia?

Organise informal and fun trivia nights where teams battle to see who has the greatest knowledge about Wikipedia. General Wikipedia knowledge and trivial interest questions are asked by a trivia host and the winners are the team which, at the end of the night, have correctly answered the most number of questions. Trivia night's organizers might provide some kind of refreshments (a grant application can be submitted to get financial help) or club members can bring munchies of their own too.

Club members can also choose to play some interesting Wikipedia games. For example, ask participants to open the article on Manmohan Sigh. Then ask them to reach the article on Belly Dancing by way of clicking on internal links from one article to another. One who reaches Belly Dancing in minimum number of hits will be announced as the winner and can be awarded by giving away a t-shirt/badge/sticker.

Wikipedia Club meetups - Organize regular meetups just to hang out together to have some fun and get to know each other better. It's great if the group wears their Wikipedia t-shirts/badges/sweatshirts and carry other swags to the meetings.

Interact and work closely with other Wikipedia Clubs across the nation and across different countries. Work collaboratively with Wikipedia Clubs in Mumbai and Delhi or London and New York. Great way of global collaboration.

Outreach sessions to recruit new editors and club members.