Fueling Volunteer Growth: the case of Wikipedia Administrators
Fuente:
arXiv
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| Autores principales: | , , , , , |
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| Formato: | Preprint |
| Publicado: |
2026
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| Acceso en línea: | |
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| _version_ | 1866912854043525120 |
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| author | Asikin-Garmager, Eli Liou, Yu-Ming Myrick, Caroline Lo, Claudia Saez-Trumper, Diego Zia, Leila |
| author_facet | Asikin-Garmager, Eli Liou, Yu-Ming Myrick, Caroline Lo, Claudia Saez-Trumper, Diego Zia, Leila |
| contents | Wikipedia administrators are vital to the platform's success, performing over a million administrative actions annually. This multi-method study systematically analyzes adminship across 284 Wikipedia languages since 2018, revealing a critical two-sided trend: while over half of all Wikipedias show a net increase in administrators, almost two-thirds of highly active Wikipedias face decline. Our analysis, drawing from large-scale adminship log analysis, over 3000 surveys, and 12 interviews, reveals this decline is primarily driven by insufficient recruitment, not unusual attrition. We identify key barriers for potential administrators, including limited awareness, ambiguous requirements, a demanding selection process, and low initial interest. Recognizing that current administrators remain highly motivated and engaged, we propose actionable recommendations to strengthen recruitment pipelines and fuel Wikipedia administrator growth, crucial for Wikipedia's long-term sustainability. |
| format | Preprint |
| id |
arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2601_20016 |
| institution | arXiv |
| publishDate | 2026 |
| record_format | arxiv |
| spellingShingle | Fueling Volunteer Growth: the case of Wikipedia Administrators Asikin-Garmager, Eli Liou, Yu-Ming Myrick, Caroline Lo, Claudia Saez-Trumper, Diego Zia, Leila Computers and Society Wikipedia administrators are vital to the platform's success, performing over a million administrative actions annually. This multi-method study systematically analyzes adminship across 284 Wikipedia languages since 2018, revealing a critical two-sided trend: while over half of all Wikipedias show a net increase in administrators, almost two-thirds of highly active Wikipedias face decline. Our analysis, drawing from large-scale adminship log analysis, over 3000 surveys, and 12 interviews, reveals this decline is primarily driven by insufficient recruitment, not unusual attrition. We identify key barriers for potential administrators, including limited awareness, ambiguous requirements, a demanding selection process, and low initial interest. Recognizing that current administrators remain highly motivated and engaged, we propose actionable recommendations to strengthen recruitment pipelines and fuel Wikipedia administrator growth, crucial for Wikipedia's long-term sustainability. |
| title | Fueling Volunteer Growth: the case of Wikipedia Administrators |
| topic | Computers and Society |
| url | https://arxiv.org/abs/2601.20016 |