2024:Program/Research Update: Investigating Neurodivergent Wikimedian Experiences
Session title: Research Update: Investigating Neurodivergent Wikimedian Experiences
- Session type: Poster
- Track: Research
- Language: en
This poster will provide an overview of our in-progress research on the experiences of neurodivergent people participating in Wikimedia projects. There are no existing studies on neurodivergent Wikimedians. However, neurodivergent people have sometimes self represented in public forums, including previous Wikimania talks, Wikimedia essays, on-Wiki discussions, blog posts, etc. Authors are in the process of designing methodology to better understand this potentially vast demographic. We are interested in talking with the community about our research to help us understand the potential risks, and to identify additional directions to make our results more applicable to the community.
Description
[edit | edit source]The poster will outline the major components of our research study and any initial findings - study will be in progress at the time of Wikimania 2024. In Part I of the study, we are conducting a content analysis of such existing public discussions about neurodivergent Wikimedians to investigate present discourse and define a research area. This project investigates: what topics are discussed in existing public conversations about being neurodivergent and participating in Wikimedia projects? Given the absence of existing research on neurodivergent Wikimedians, despite the potential vastness of this demographic, this content analysis will inform the second part of this work, in which we will investigate: what are important methodological considerations for the design of future studies on neurodivergent Wikimedians? In Part 2, we will create a set of research design recommendations for future research on neurodivergent Wikimedians, given that studying demographic groups requires careful planning and risk considerations.
The terms neurodivergent and neurodiversity are concepts which address brain differences and challenge stigmas associated with diagnostic categories that pathologize brain differences as impairments. Neurodiversity has been used by disability activists and employed to recognize the social shaping or social model of disability since the late 1990s. We take up a neurodiversity framework to situate our research within these contexts, which focus on empowerment, acceptance, and building alliances across disabilities and combinations of difference.
Our contact information will appear on the poster so interested parties can get in touch. This work might pique the interest of those interested in understanding the makeup of the Wikimedia community and supporting contributors, including organizers and technical support might be interested in this work. This work may also contribute to our understanding of neurodivergent people’s experiences in work and volunteering contexts, as well as to our understanding of how to study this demographic in online contexts.
- How does your session relate to the event theme, Collaboration of the Open?
The potential impact of this work is to increase understanding of how to support Wikimedian wellbeing, including through understanding the challenges faced by neurodivergent Wikimedians. Understanding how to support Wikimedian wellbeing is a key component of preventing volunteer burnout and sustaining a dynamic contributor base. This work will produce recommendations about how to operationalize our findings for both Wikimedia organizers and other researchers. We will also suggest areas for future work in our publications. Data on challenges faced by neurodivergent Wikipedians can inform strategic planning to improve community experience. This study could be a source for the production of a rights statement involving neurodivergent Wikimedians. Such a rights statement should involve neurodivergent Wikimedians in the creation process collaboratively and in the open, to increase community impact. The proposed work might inform those identifying ways to reduce Wikimedia’s barriers to entry and accessibility. To share our findings with the community, we plan to continue to explore avenues for facilitating public discourse on the potential impact of this work, collaborating in the open.
- What is the experience level needed for the audience for your session?
Everyone can participate in this session
Resources
[edit | edit source]Speakers
[edit | edit source]- Hexatekin
- User:Hexatekin on Wikimedia platforms
- http://dorothyhoward.com/