Wow Kerry Reading your email - this Australian nodded throughout. I think it raises many of the challenges of digital engagement.
I do think the respect-o-meter would make a great research project. A survey comparing how different groups/activities are valued would at least raise the awareness that digital volunteering is a thing. Within Australia we have obvious candidate groups of digital volunteers to survey in terms of Wikimedia, Open Street Map, Trove, people working in open data projects and genealogy etc A global survey could also provide comparisons between countries/cultures. And a conference paper or journal article wouldn't hurt:) Cheers Pru Pru Mitchell Vice-President Wikimedia Australia [email protected] On 6 April 2017 at 03:08, Kerry Raymond <[email protected]> wrote: > Disclaimer. I don't proclaim to be an expert on any of this. It's just my > opinion and is a commentary about Australia with which even other > Australians may disagree. > > - Differences and importance. I'll address these together because I think > they are linked. > > I think within the community there are "shades of grey" when it comes to > volunteering. I would say in the Australian community those who engage in > "hands on" volunteering in the most demanding roles get the greatest > respect. If you fight a bushfire for days on end without sleep or you help > wash a drunken homeless man in a shelter, most people think "it's great > that they will do that because it needs to be done" but "I couldn't do > that" or "I would not want to do it". Whereas being a surf lifesaver (say) > isn't seen as quite as deserving of respect, yes, they do save lives from > time to time (maximum respect at that point in time), but in between > there's also a lot of lounging about the beach chatting up the girls and > competing in surf boat races, and whizzing around the beach on a quad bike > (lower levels of respect). Whereas if you do fundraising for the same > organisations, it's still seen as worthwhile but sorting the second-hand > clothes donations isn't quite as demanding as risking your life, and > running the charity luncheon fundraiser with the A-listers and celebs is > even less undesirable (indeed, actively desirable for the social climber). > Yet it's all volunteering for a "worthy cause" but the respect levels are > quite different. > > So where does digital volunteering fit in this scheme of things? Probably > pretty low down on the respect-o-meter. Firstly I doubt if most people > would even realise digital volunteering existed. But if they were made > aware of it, then if you did some kind of digital volunteering such as > doing mapping during a disaster (we get lots of cyclones, bushfires and > floods here so it is very important to know what road is open, how deep the > creek is, where are the power lines down, where are the trapped and the > injured), people would think that worthwhile but still not with the same > respect as the volunteers who actually go out in the little boats and drag > people from rooftops and floating cars or fight the blaze etc, using the > maps the digital volunteer provided. Or to put it another way, a digital > volunteer generally doesn't risk dying, having to handle a dead body, and > nobody vomits/bleeds over them. > > If we look at digital volunteering in something like Wikipedia or > HistoryPin, yes, there is some appreciation but most people probably guess > that you do it when it suits you, you do what it suits you to do (i.e. > relates to your own hobbies/interests), and can be done in the comfort of > your own home. When I do Wikipedia talks and training, people often tell me > that they always donate to Wikipedia each year because they appreciate it > so much that they want to ensure its continued existence, but rarely do say > they appreciate the people who produce the content. In fact, most people > seem to completely unaware of where the content comes from. So I don't > think there's huge respect for Wikipedians really. Or to put it another > way, Australians appreciate someone who would try to save them from the > flood more than someone who would argue that their death wasn't a > run-of-the-mill drowning at Articles for Deletion. :-) > > On the Australian respect-o-meter, I think digital volunteering probably > sits somewhere between running the charity "op shop" (recycled second hand > clothes etc) and the organising of fundraising celebrity luncheons. I don't > think any volunteering that involves wearing expensive clothes and carrying > a glass of champagne really gets that much respect in Australia. Digital > volunteering is probably seen as having similar characteristics to the "op > shop" in that there's probably a lot of time commitment, can be tedious and > repetitive and doesn't give the volunteer anything much in return beyond a > "warm glow" of having done something useful to others. I think most people > would think digital volunteering was not a social activity (unlike the "op > shop" where there are usually teams rostered on a regular basis and the > socialising is often part of the reward for doing the volunteering). I > don't think that the non-social nature of it alters its perceived value but > I think it might lead to the perception that digital volunteers are geeky > loners who don't want/need social relationships. I think I get more respect > for my Wikipedia outreach work (Wikipedia edit training etc) than I do for > my Wikipedia contributions, perhaps because it is more "helping others" in > a face-to-face way, but I actually believe myself that my contributions are > more valuable (give once and the whole English-speaking world can benefit). > > The core characteristic of digital volunteering - using a computer? More > seriously, using a computer to create content where the analog equivalent > would not be as useful (e.g. hard to copy paper maps and distribute them > and keep them updated during an emergency). I don't think being a volunteer > who counsels suicidal people in an online chat room would be seen by most > people as digital volunteering; the use of the Internet would simply be an > alternative to phone or face-to-face. The counselling itself is the core of > their volunteering, rather than the means by which they communicate. > Similarly I don't think maintaining the spreadsheet for the charity > luncheon would be seen as digital volunteering. The core of the > volunteering needs to have a "must-be digital" quality for digital > volunteering. > > What should authorities (at various levels) do for digital volunteers? > Well, they do very little for volunteers of any kind currently so I am not > sure they are likely to do anything different for digital volunteers. In > Australia, there is no tax deductibility for expenses incurred in > volunteering (a volunteer firefighter generally pays for their own > protective outfits and their equipment, large 4WD trucks, is usually funded > through fundraising by the volunteer firefighters association). However, > many employers will choose to give paid leave (additional to normal leave > entitlements) to staff, who are called out to respond to an emergency as > volunteers, but not usually for some regular commitment of time at the > homeless shelter or for emergency-callout training. > > Legally most (all?) of our states in Australia have the "Good Samaritan > Act" or similar which ensures "that legal protection is extended to > ordinary persons who, without the expectation of a fee or reward, assist > people in emergency situations". That *might* be seen as extending to > emergency digital mapmaking that due to inaccuracy caused harm to someone, > but I doubt that the situation of emergency digital assistance been tested > in our courts; the legislation was motivated to avoid the public being > afraid to assist injured people for fear of being sued if they > unintentionally made matters worse (a much more hands-on situation). I > can't see it extending to Wikipedia contributions somehow. > > In my observation, for emergency situations, authorities prefer to engage > with volunteer organisations with large numbers of volunteers, clearly > defined roles, training programs and some systems of certification in > relation to specific skills (e.g. first aid, boat handling, radio > operations), and the ability to deploy rapidly. For example, our State > Emergency Service is a good example of a volunteer organisation that is > deployed in emergencies. > > http://www.ses.qld.gov.au/about/Pages/What-We-Do.aspx > > For ongoing situations like homeless shelters, etc, there will often be > contractual arrangements with the volunteer organisation based around grant > funding of some kind with KPIs, reporting obligations etc. That is, the > government generally wants to deal with large professionally-run > organisations, albeit composed largely of volunteers. For example, if you > choose to volunteer at one of our major hospitals, you will have formal > inductions, you will have a roster of regular days for volunteering and you > will be dropped as a volunteer if you don't attend enough of your shifts or > don't do what you are supposed to get done (it's just too much management > hassle to deal with such a volunteer). The expectations are as high as that > of an employee (arguably higher as they can't sack an employee as easily as > a volunteer). > > http://www.mater.org.au/Home/Support/Volunteers > > In Australia digital volunteers are not usually operating within such > kinds of organisation or with that kind of rigidity. Nor do I think we have > that kind of size of organisation. I've done Map-Ups with Open Street Map, > but I've never been a member of anything officially, never been trained, > etc. Even the guy who did the local organising didn't seem sure if there > actually was an organisation you could formally join. A Map-Up involved > turning up at some park in a random suburb, have a BBQ breakfast, parcel > out the map areas, drive around making notes of errors or missing things, > meet for lunch at a pub, spend the afternoon adding/updating the OSM. > Wikimedia Australia has a membership that teeters between 30-60 people > spread thousands of kilometres apart, so we don't even get the BBQ > breakfast. I can't see any government desiring to engage with either OSM > within Australia (not even sure how you would contact it anyway) nor WMAU > (at least we have an email address). It's not as if WMAU can round up > hundreds of digital volunteers for some purpose. Despite Wikipedia's claim > that "Brisbane's metropolitan area has a population of 2.35 million, and > the South East Queensland region, centred on Brisbane, encompasses a > population of more than 3.5 million", I can't get more than 10 people to a > Brisbane meetup once/twice a year and I can't find anyone to assist with > edit training and nobody has ever certified me as competent to conduct > training or make contributions. In contrast the State Emergency Service has > 6,000 volunteers trained and ready to rappel down a cliff face or > coordinate swift water rescues, and probably with certificates to prove > their competency. > > I am not sure if that answers your questions. But it was a > thought-provoking set of questions. > > Kerry > > -----Original Message----- > From: Wiki-research-l [mailto:[email protected]] > On Behalf Of Julian Fischer > Sent: Tuesday, 4 April 2017 8:46 PM > To: [email protected] > Subject: [Wiki-research-l] Digital engagement / digital volunteer work > > Hi all, > > Wikimedia Deutschland is planning a workshop (June 23, 2017) on digital > engagement / digital volunteer work. > > The aim of the workshop is to identify with other stakeholders ("classic" > NGOs, Free- and Open-Movement, Volunteers, state authorities) open > questions on digital engagement / digital volunteer work that should be > answered. > > Research questions could be as follows: > - What is the difference between digital and analog engagement? > - What are the core characteristic of digital engagement? > - What should state authorities on the national and local level do in > order to support digital volunteers? > - How important is digital engagement for our society? > - ... > > Is there anybody from the Wikimedia movement who can help us to broaden > our German perspective and give us international insides on this topic (e.g. > via a ten minutes video message)? > > Do you know any inspiring study? > > Cheers, > > Julian Fischer > Head of Volunteer Support > > Wikimedia Deutschland e. V. | Tempelhofer Ufer 23-24 | D-10963 Berlin Tel. > +49-(0)30 > 219 158 26-0 http://wikimedia.de > > Stellen Sie sich eine Welt vor, in der jeder Mensch an der Menge allen > Wissens frei teilhaben kann. Helfen Sie uns dabei! > http://spenden.wikimedia.de/ > > Wikimedia Deutschland - Gesellschaft zur Förderung Freien Wissens e. V. > Eingetragen im Vereinsregister des Amtsgerichts Berlin-Charlottenburg > unter der Nummer 23855 B. Als gemeinnützig anerkannt durch das Finanzamt > für Körperschaften I Berlin, Steuernummer 27/029/42207. > _______________________________________________ > Wiki-research-l mailing list > [email protected] > https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wiki-research-l > > > _______________________________________________ > Wiki-research-l mailing list > [email protected] > https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wiki-research-l > _______________________________________________ Wiki-research-l mailing list [email protected] https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wiki-research-l
