2022:Submissions/How Russia’s war in Ukraine impacted the wiki community in Ukraine and beyond
- Language: English
- Status: Live
Speaker(s)[edit source]
Anton Protsiuk
Abstract[edit source]
Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine profoundly impacted Ukraine and the world – including the Wikimedia community.
Editor activity on Ukrainian Wikipedia fell in the first weeks and months; multiple Wikipedia editors found themselves first-hand witnesses of the war’s terrible toll. Yet, from the first hours, hundreds of volunteers have collaborated on thousands of articles covering the war for millions of readers relying on Wikipedia.
In this session, we’ll look at:
- how the war impacted Ukrainian Wikimedians – both on the statistical level and through personal stories;
- how Wikimedia Ukraine, and the broader wiki community, adapted their work to help those living through the war, whether directly or indirectly.
Learning Outcomes[edit source]
Participants will have learned:
- the impact of Russia’s invasion on the Ukrainian Wikimedia community and on specific volunteer editors;
- how the Ukrainian community has coped with the war and covered it on Wikipedia;
- how this experience might be useful for other communities across the world.
Biography[edit source]
I’ve been a member of the Wikimedia movement since 2012. I presented at three Wikimanias (2018 Cape Town, 2019 Stockholm, 2021 online) and several other international wiki events. I led or co-led dozens of events for the Ukrainian wiki community and spoke on multiple occasions there.