2025:Program/Where are all the Wikipedia administrators? A panel discussion about the future of administrators on Wikipedia.
Session title: Where are all the Wikipedia administrators? A panel discussion about the future of administrators on Wikipedia.
- Session type: Panel
- Track: Community Health
- Language: en
🎥 Session recording: https://w.wiki/FQrU 🎥
A report released by the WMF Research Team in January 2025[1] showed that the majority (13 of 21) larger language versions of Wikipedia are losing administrators. The study also concluded that the most impactful site for interventions lies in efforts to increase the inflow of new administrators. The goal of this panel is to bring together experts from Wikipedia communities and the WMF to discuss and share ideas for what can be done in response to declining numbers of administrators on many large language versions of Wikipedia. This may include discussion and critique of recommendations included in the WMF Research Team’s report, but also other ideas for policy-based interventions and other ways the WMF may be able to support administrators.
Description
CONTEXT A report released by the WMF Research Team in January 2025[1] showed that the majority (13 of 21) larger* language versions of Wikipedia are losing administrators. The study also concluded that the most impactful site for interventions lies in efforts to increase the inflow of new administrators, and crucially, the most direct influences on recruitment are policy-based.
OBJECTIVE The goal is to bring together experts from Wikipedia communities and the WMF to discuss and share ideas for what can be done in response to declining numbers of administrators on many large language versions of Wikipedia. This may include discussion and critique of recommendations included in the WMF Research Team’s report,** but also other ideas for policy-based interventions and ways the WMF may be able to support administrators. Moreover, we hope to encourage sharing of community-based efforts at increasing the number of new administrators.
FORMAT 1. Brief overview of research highlights. (maximum 10min) A member of WMF Research will provide a very brief overview of some of the main takeaways from the report for those unfamiliar with the report, both to help share these results and provide context for the discussion to follow. 2. Discussion within the panel. (~20min) In advance of the panel, we will provide panel participants with a few possible prompts they may consider engaging with. Each participant will be provided a few minutes to provide some introductory remarks and reflections. 3. Panel discussion. (~25min) Panel participants will be provided with time to ask questions of each other, as well as take questions from the audience.
- How does your session relate to the event theme, Wikimania@20 – Inclusivity. Impact. Sustainability?
The research report that this panel is anchored in includes analyses of current administrator demographics to help provide insight into representation. Moreover, administrators perform tens of thousands administrative actions each month that are vital to the health operation of different language versions of Wikipedia. The discussion around how to increase the numbers of new administrators that the panel will include is therefore critical to the long-term sustainability of Wikipedia.
- What is the experience level needed for the audience for your session?
Everyone can participate in this session
- Etherpad link
Resources
Speakers
- leila
- Hi. My name is Leila. I am the Head of Research at the Wikimedia Foundation and I lead the research direction of the organization. I joined WMF in 2014 as a Research Research Scientist and since then have been involved in a variety of research initiatives at different capacities. These days my primary focus is supporting the Research team at the Wikimedia Foundation to conduct research in support of the Wikimedia Movement and to strengthen the Wikimedia research community. You can learn about the team's work at: https://research.wikimedia.org/report.html. I'm an affiliate of Berkman Klein Center for Internet and Society and an ACM Distinguished Speaker.
- You can learn more about me at https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:LZia_(WMF).
- easikingarmager
- Eli is researcher and linguist who has worked with the Wikimedia Foundation since 2019.