Wikimedians of Western Armenian Language User Group/2020-2021 Report

Wikimedians of western Armenian user group annual Report August 2020 - august 2021

Article Overview

Western Armenian Wikipedia currently has more than 9,000 articles, even though it has only been given a separate platform in April of 2019, as Eastern Armenian (hy) Wikipedia served as an initial platform for Western Armenian articles. Wikimedians of Western Armenian Language User Group was approved to be an affiliate User Group in August of 2020 and has been actively functional ever since. The User Group's activities include numerous edit-a-thons, editing education workshops, in-person workshops, partaking in global initiatives, etc. The User Group focuses on developing Western Armenian Wikipedia. Due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, most of the User Group's activities were held online, except one.

Editors

The number of active editors significantly increased, with more than 45 active editors in peak times of April 2021. An active group from Istanbul, Aleppo, Yerevan, Athens, and Beirut have been diligently working towards increasing quality article quantities on Western Armenian Wikipedia. The average contribution of this group would be around 2-3 articles per week per individual.
Western Armenian Wikipedia acquired two new admins for the platform, Users Շահէն and Սեւան Դանիէլեան Մկրեան.

Weekly News Updates

Western Armenian Wikipedia had weekly news updates on the Main Page of the platform.

Article of the Month

Western Armenian Wikipedia had a featured article of the month on the Main Page of the platform.

Fun Facts

Western Armenian Wikipedia features fun facts on a bi-weekly basis on the Main Page of the platform.

Edit-a-thons

After the establishment of the affiliate, we hosted an edit-a-thon in December of 2020, our first as an official affiliate․ Through the weekend, 15 new articles were created and 7 articles’ qualities improved by 9 different users

Tհroughout 2021 we’ve already organized 1 edit-a-thon so far, we intend on organizing 1-2 more. Our first annual edit-a-thon took place from February 26 to 28, 2021. Through the weekend, 29 new articles were created and 4 articles’ qualities improved by 9 different users. It’s worth noting that this was before the informational Wiki editing sessions. We are expecting our next edit-a-thon to have a double number of users.

TranslateWiki

Throughout 2020 and 2021, we worked with TranslateWiki and drastically changed the majority of non-Western Armenian content to Western Armenian over hundreds of backend edits.

In order to translate infoboxes to Western Armenian, we are eager to train some of our community members to edit Wikidata. Editing and translating Wikidata will create one of the largest Western Armenian databases in the future. An active user who got involved with our projects due to our first annual Wiki workshop is currently under training to understand the skeleton of the Wiki projects and how to contribute to them.

Additionally, we will continue improving Western Armenian Wikipedia by adding to and correcting the articles written in the first 5 years of the Western Armenian Wikipedia projects. This plan has been implemented throughout 2020 and has been continuing continue. Most community members of Western Armenian Wikipedia will be divided among certain tasks, based on the level of their abilities.

Online Wiki Editing Workshops

On two occasions through 2021, we offered online Wiki editing workshops to total beginners who wish to learn editing from scratch. The participants spanned all around the world and some of them have been continually active editors, marking the workshops a success.

These weekly Zoom sessions took place to teach Armenians from the diaspora how to edit on Western Armenian Wikipedia throughout the month of March and June, which has pushed many of them to continue editing and adding info on Wikipedia. A total of 30 individuals signed up for the sessions, yet the number of participants for the 4-week training was 25 total participants. total participants. The participants’ ages ranged from teens to late 60s.

Overall, we had a total of around 25 participants.

Outreach

Our first email newsletter was sent on the 15th of January, 2021. As of June 9, we have sent 21 newsletters on a weekly basis, containing 3 different articles each, often having to do with weekly events. Only one out of the three articles is about Armenian heritage and/or culture, as our goals include diversifying content in Armenian. The newsletters have exclusive promotional graphics prepared for them to spark curiosity among the recipient readers. Here are some facts:

- Approximately 360 individuals receive our weekly newsletter;

- We’ve provided a total of 75+ exclusive promotional materials.

Media

User Group founder Azniv Stepanian appeared on multiple media outlets to promote the Wiki movement, Wikipedia, and Western Armenian Wikipedia, as well as the importance of open-source information that is available to all those who wish to search and find it.

Media links:

In-person interview with CivilNet: link
Interview with Hartag podcast: link
Print interview with TorontoHye: link
HayHorizon podcast interview: link

Social Media

Since the approval of the User Group, social media has played an integral role to reach wider audiences who otherwise would not have been aware of Western Armenian Wiki activity, let alone of Wikipedia’s separate existence. From informing Armenian communities around the world of our activities to posting informative articles from Wikipedia to spreading our newsletter to 300+ recipients, social media and newsletter outreach have been growing exponentially by the day. Our social media channels and newsletter recipients’ list intend on exponentially growing throughout 2021.

Facebook

We launched our Facebook page on February 15 of 2021.

On Facebook, we have:

- Approximately 600 followers likers;

- 870 reach;

- 24% of our likers on Facebook are male, 76% are female.

Additionally, we post fun facts about Wikipedia, the Wiki movement, sourcing, Wiki projects, initiatives, etc, once a week on our social media channels, to better inform our followers of what Wiki really is.

Twitter

Our Twitter page was created in December of 2020 but is active starting January 15. Twitter has helped us engage with Western Armenian and diaspora Armenian community members in a short and concise manner. Our Twitter page, created in December of 2020 but active starting January 15, currently has a total of 245+ followers. Our followers include notable individuals.

Instagram

Our Instagram page launched on January 15 of 2020. On Instagram, we have

- 320+ total followers;

- 510 page reach;

- 64% of our followers are female, 36% are male.

User Group Online Link-Ups

The User Group hosts an estimated monthly opportunity window for members of the User Group to meet via Zoom and discuss topics that interest them, give suggestions, ask questions, etc.

Wiki Workshop in Armenia

On the 14th of August, 2021, the User Group held a meeting/workshop in Yerevan, Armenia. Attendees were introduced to the Wiki movement, Wikipedia, Western Armenian Wikipedia, and the basic editing tools to be able to adequately edit Wikipedia. Additionally, they were introduced to #WPWP, a global campaign in which Western Armenian Wikipedia is also partaking.

Gallery

User Group Anniversary

On the 24th of August, 2021, a few members of our User Group met up in a cafe in Yerevan, Armenia, and celebrated the 1st anniversary of the establishment/recognition/affiliation of the Wikimedians of Western Armenian Language User Group. We had a cute cake and had such a good time.

#WPWP Participation + Rapid Grant

The User Group has decided to partake in the #WPWP global campaign in an effort to increase the amount of media within articles, prompting many to have reader-friendly content on Wikipedia. For this reason, we launched a contest in which anyone is able to participate. The contest required budgeting, which allowed us to apply to our first ever rapid grant, which received approval. Even before the end of our campaign, we have already achieved almost tenfold of our prospective goal, marking our participation a major success for the User Group.