[Wikimedia-l] [Wikimedia Research Showcase] February 17, 2021: Censorship (of Wikipedia)

[Martin Gerlach]

Hi all,

The next Research Showcase will be live-streamed on Wednesday, February 17,
at 9:00 AM PST/17:00 UTC (Note that this is 30 minutes earlier than the
usual time).  This month’s showcase will be around the topic of censorship
(of Wikipedia). In the first talk, Daniel Romero presents a study examining
the effect of censorship on the collaborative behavior of editors. In the
second talk, Margaret Roberts presents work on disaggregating the effects
of censorship on proactive vs incidental consumption of information.

Youtube stream: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z52wPt34rJc

As usual, you can join the conversation on IRC at #wikimedia-research. You
can also watch our past research showcases here:
https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Research/Showcase


Talk 1:

Speaker: Daniel Romero (University of Michigan)

Title: Shocking the Crowd: The Effect of Censorship Shocks on Chinese
Wikipedia

Abstract: Collaborative crowdsourcing has become a popular approach to
organizing work across the globe. Being global also means being vulnerable
to shocks – unforeseen events that disrupt crowds – that originate from any
country. In this study, we examine changes in collaborative behavior of
editors of Chinese Wikipedia that arise due to the 2005 government
censorship in mainland China. Using the exogenous variation in the fraction
of editors blocked across different articles due to the censorship, we
examine the impact of reduction in group size, which we denote as the shock
level, on three collaborative behavior measures: volume of activity,
centralization, and conflict. We find that activity and conflict drop on
articles that face a shock, whereas centralization increases. The impact of
a shock on activity increases with shock level, whereas the impact on
centralization and conflict is higher for moderate shock levels than for
very small or very high shock levels. These findings provide support for
threat rigidity theory – originally introduced in the organizational theory
literature – in the context of large-scale collaborative crowds.

Talk 2

Speaker: Margaret Roberts (University of California San Diego)

Title: Censorship's Effect on Incidental Exposure to Information: Evidence
from Wikipedia
Abstract: The fast-growing body of research on internet censorship has
examined the effects of censoring selective pieces of political information
and the unintended consequences of censorship of entertainment. However, we
know very little about the broader consequences of coarse censorship or
censorship that affects a large array of information such as an entire
website or search engine. In this study, we use China’s complete block of
Chinese language Wikipedia (zh.wikipedia.org) on May 19, 2015, to
disaggregate the effects of coarse censorship on proactive consumption of
information—information users seek out—and on incidental consumption of
information—information users are not actively seeking but consume when
they happen to come across it. We quantify the effects of censorship of
Wikipedia not only on proactive information consumption but also on
opportunities for exploration and incidental consumption of information. We
find that users from mainland China were much more likely to consume
information on Wikipedia about politics and history incidentally rather
than proactively, suggesting that the effects of censorship on incidental
information access may be politically significant.


-- 
Martin Gerlach
Research Scientist
Wikimedia Foundation
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[Wikimedia-l] Second office hours: Call for Feedback Community Board Seats

[Jackie Koerner]

Hi all,

This is my last email to you this week, my apologies for adding to your
inbox. :)

I want to share the information for the second office hours organized by
the team facilitating the Call for Feedback: Community Board seats. You can
see the report of the first round. [1]

Second round of office hours: [2]
2021-02-20 6:00 UTC
2021-02-20 10:00 UTC
2021-02-20 16:00 UTC
2021-02-20 21:00 UTC

This time we organized four meetings to better cover different time zones.

We are also trying a small idea - inviting participants to declare their
main topic of interest beforehand. In theory, this could help everyone see
what the main topics of interest for each session are. This is optional.
Anyone can raise any topics related to the Call for feedback during the
sessions on the spot.

Best,

Jackie
-- 
*Jackie Koerner*

*she/her*
Communication Facilitator, Board Governance
*English language communities and Meta-Wiki*

[1] First office hours report
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Foundation_Board_of_Trustees/Call_for_feedback:_Community_Board_seats/Conversations/2021-02-02_-_First_Office_Hour

[2] Second office hours
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Foundation_Board_of_Trustees/Call_for_feedback:_Community_Board_seats/Conversations/2021-02-20_-_Second_Office_Hours
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Re: [Wikimedia-l] WikiGap Update

[Rajeeb Dutta]

Thanks Eric for the updates.

Best Regards,
Rajeeb.
(U: Marajozkee)

(Sent from my iPhone pardon the brevity).


> On 12-Feb-2021, at 7:56 PM, Eric Luth  wrote:
> 
> 
> Hi all,
> 
> We are at the moment working hard for the preparations for this year's 
> WikiGap Campaign. As with most campaigns and events in the movement, we are 
> working hard to adapt to a completely digital campaign. 
> 
> I wanted to give a few updates.
> 
> First, we are working hard to develop some guidelines for a successful 
> virtual WikiGap event. Our hope is that it can easily be modified to work for 
> any digital editathon. The goal is to have it finalized and distributed by 
> early next week.
> 
> Secondly, we have started a Facebook group for WikiGap organizers, 
> participants, and supporters. If you are interested in organizing or taking 
> part in a WikiGap event, you can join the Facebook group. We will give more 
> regular updates there. Here is the link: 
> https://www.facebook.com/groups/858908041562951
> 
> Thirdly, we summarized the outcome from last year's campaign a few days back. 
> In spite of Covid-19, which forced a large amount of the events to be either 
> canceled or entirely digital, 1,500 editors created or improved more than 
> 20,000 articles, articles that in 2020 had more than 42 million views. Well 
> done to everyone who took part! 
> 
> Wish you all a nice weekend! 
> 
> Eric Luth
> Projektledare engagemang och påverkan | Project Manager, Involvement and 
> Advocacy
> Wikimedia Sverige
> eric.l...@wikimedia.se
> +46 (0) 765 55 50 95
> 
> Stöd fri kunskap, bli medlem i Wikimedia Sverige.
> Läs mer på blimedlem.wikimedia.se
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> Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l, 
> 
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[Wikimedia-l] WikiGap Update

[Eric Luth]

Hi all,

We are at the moment working hard for the preparations for this year's
WikiGap Campaign. As with most campaigns and events in the movement, we are
working hard to adapt to a completely digital campaign.

I wanted to give a few updates.

First, we are working hard to develop some guidelines for a successful
virtual WikiGap event. Our hope is that it can easily be modified to work
for any digital editathon. The goal is to have it finalized and distributed
by early next week.

Secondly, we have started a Facebook group for WikiGap organizers,
participants, and supporters. If you are interested in organizing or taking
part in a WikiGap event, you can join the Facebook group. We will give more
regular updates there. Here is the link:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/858908041562951

Thirdly, we summarized the outcome from last year's campaign a few days
back. In spite of Covid-19, which forced a large amount of the events to be
either canceled or entirely digital, 1,500 editors created or improved more
than 20,000 articles, articles that in 2020 had more than 42 million views.
Well done to everyone who took part!

Wish you all a nice weekend!

*Eric Luth*
Projektledare engagemang och påverkan | Project Manager, Involvement and
Advocacy
Wikimedia Sverige
eric.l...@wikimedia.se
+46 (0) 765 55 50 95

Stöd fri kunskap, bli medlem i Wikimedia Sverige.
Läs mer på blimedlem.wikimedia.se
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