Wikimedians of Western Armenian Language User Group/2023-2024 Report

Wikimedians of western Armenian user group annual Report August 2023 - august 2024

Article Overview

Western Armenian Wikipedia currently has more than 12,174+ articles. The number of WA Wiki articles at the time of writing this article (6 September 2024) is 12,100+-. This indicates a record 800+-article increase since the previous report. We have also edited and improved a record +-1,000 articles.

The User Group's activities include numerous edit-a-thons, editing education workshops, in-person workshops, partaking in global initiatives, etc. The User Group focuses on developing Western Armenian Wikipedia. Most of the User group's activities are conducted online due to the fact that the editors live in different countries․

Editors

The number of active editors peaked at 47 throughout Q4 and currently stands at 48. This number was in the range of 35-65 active users through 2023-2024. The lowest number of edits per editor is 1, the highest is approximately 400. This number does not include the number of edits on non-Wikipedia sister Wiki projects i.e. TranslateWiki, MetaWiki, Wikimedia Commons, Wikisource, Wikidata, and other language Wikipedias.

Wiki workshops have succeeded, as many editors continue to edit actively throughout the year.

Administrators

The number of admins on Western Armenian Wikipedia is officially 4, they are:

• Sevan Tanielian Meguerian
• HoMen
• Azniv Stepanian
• ShahenWasHere

Weekly News Updates

Western Armenian Wikipedia had weekly news updates on the Main Page of the platform.

Article of the Month

Western Armenian Wikipedia had a featured article of the month on the Main Page of the platform.

Fun Facts

Western Armenian Wikipedia features fun facts on a monthly basis on the Main Page of the platform.

TranslateWiki

Since 2019 on a regular basis, we worked with TranslateWiki and dramatically changed most of the non-Western Armenian content to Western Armenian through hundreds of back-edits. We continue translating TranslateWiki, every year and hope to achieve more results, approaching the highest percentage of translated texts

Online Wiki Editing Workshops

The online wiki editing workshops series also continued in 2024.

The online workshops that we organize for general beginners who want to learn editing from scratch started in April 2023.

These weekly Zoom sessions were held to teach Diaspora Armenians how to edit the Western Armenian Wikipedia in April and June.

We are delighted that after months of workshops, participants continue to edit and add information to Wikipedia.

Misc Initiatives

Wiki Editing Workshops

We host individual or small group editing workshops on a rolling basis for all those who wish to learn how to edit Western Armenian Wikipedia and also go deeper if need be. We’ve also hosted a technical workshop for 4 individuals who wish to learn how to create, translate, or edit templates on Wikipedia.

Currently, workshops on Wikipedia editing are taking place on a bimonthly basis, where totally unfamiliar individuals are taught the ways to edit, create, and cite on Western Armenian Wikipedia. We had 16 responding participants for the workshops in March 2022.

CEE Spring Edit-A-Thon

Wikimedia CEE Spring aims to join local forces of free knowledge to accumulate and distribute information about history, culture, traditions, and people in every corner of the region to support mutual acknowledgment and understanding and to increase the quantity and quality of free knowledge available about the CEE region globally. This aim is achieved by article creation about every country in the region on every Wikipedia language.

We have created our list and contributed to the creation of diaspora-centric articles that need translation and exposure on other Wikipedia language platforms.

Meeting at "Harach"

On July 3, 2024, the graduated students of Athens' Levon and Sophia Hagopian Armenian School met at "Harach" with Azniv Stepanian.

Azniv presented a historical overview of Western Armenian Wikipedia's 10-year activities. Then referred to the steps to use it, and talked about the importance and the process and function of editing editors. The students received additional information on interesting questions.

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2024 APRI Forum

On June 26-28, 2024, Azniv was invited and participated in a forum dedicated to "Building Tomorrow". During the forum, Jimmy Wales Founder, Wikipedia gave a speech about "How to Harness Technology for the Good of Tomorrow".

The 2024 APRI Forum, brought together policy, diplomatic, academic, and civil society leaders, and journalists from around the world to clarify the pathways for Armenia to move forward in key areas of development.

Edit-A-Thons

Throughout the annual plan 2023-2024, we organized 2 edit-a-thons. You can find more information on our edit-a-thons here and here; the former having taken place on 14-16 October 2022, and the last one on 7-9 April 2023.

The first edit-a-thon was organized throughout the two weekends: December, 15-17 December and 22-24 December, 2023. Approximately 25 articles were written and 10 articles were edited.

The second edit-a-thon was organized during two weekends: June 14-16 and 21-23, 2024. Approximately 23 articles were written, and 6 articles were edited.

We aim to continue the edit-a-thons tradition, and intend on organizing more.

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Wiki Trainings in Beirut

We conducted Wikipedia editing and Wikimedia Commons training sessions in Lebanon, reaching 25-30 participants instead of the planned 250 due to political instability, including border clashes and drone strikes. These challenges led to last-minute cancellations by partners and logistical difficulties, yet we adapted by collecting email addresses and continuing guidance online. The sessions resulted in 10-12 new editors and 50 article contributions, falling short of initial targets but showcasing resilience and adaptability. Key learnings include the importance of flexibility, robust pre-event communication, and leveraging digital tools in unstable conditions. These experiences will guide our future initiatives in fostering Wikimedia engagement within diaspora communities.

Wikimania 2024

The Western Armenian Language User Group was also present at the annual Wikimania in Katowice, Poland, the largest Wiki conference in the world. Community member and project manager Shahen Araboghlian received a full scholarship to attend the conference and made valuable connections through different networks that we hope will turn into bigger collaborations and opportunities both with affiliate members, the CEE, and the Wikimedia Foundation.

CEE Meeting 2024

Three members of our community, Minasian (Chaigkanous Minasian), Talin Nayir, and Diana Bulduk will be attending the annual Central and Eastern European (CEE) meeting in Istanbul, Turkey from the 20th to the 22nd of September, 2024. Haigan Minasian, from Athens, has received a full scholarship to travel for this meeting, and Talin Nayir and Diana Bulduk will be attending without a scholarship as they already reside in Istanbul.

Social Media and Outreach

Social Media

Our social media channels and newsletter recipients list intend on exponentially growing throughout 2022-2023.

Facebook

We launched our Facebook page on February 15 of 2021. On Facebook, we have:

1. More than 1.1K followers/likers;
2. 2,900 reach;
3. 28.8% of our likers on Facebook are men, 71.2% are women.

Twitter

Our Twitter page has helped us engage with Western Armenian and diaspora Armenian community members in a short and concise manner. Our Twitter page currently has a total of 410+ followers. Our followers include notable individuals.

Instagram

Our Instagram page has:

• 750+ total followers (doubled in a year);
• 64% of our followers are women, and 36% are men.

Newsletter

Our first email newsletter was sent on the 15th of January, 2021. As of September 2024, we have sent 200+ newsletters every week, containing 3 different articles each, often related to weekly events. Only one of the three articles is about Armenian heritage and/or culture, as our goals include diversifying content in Armenian. The newsletters have exclusive promotional graphics prepared for them to spark curiosity among the recipient readers. Here are some facts:

• Approximately 460+ individuals receive our weekly newsletter;
• We’ve provided a total of 550+ exclusive promotional materials.

We have subscribed to Linktree, furthermore, our social media channels will be used to establish connections and collaborations with other Wikimedia Movement and Wikimedia Foundation affiliate organizations and user groups.

Media Outreach

Since the approval of the User Group, social media has played an integral role in reaching wider audiences who otherwise would not have been aware of Western Armenian Wiki activity, let alone of Wikipedia’s separate existence. From informing Armenian communities around the world of our activities to posting informative articles from Wikipedia to spreading our newsletter to 440+ recipients, social media and newsletter outreach have been growing exponentially by the day. Our social media channels and newsletter recipients list intend on exponentially growing throughout 2022.

Facebook

We launched our Facebook page on February 15 of 2021. On Facebook, we have: 1. More than 1.3K followers/likers; 2. 3,100 reach; 3. 29% of our likers on Facebook are men, 71% are women;

Twitter

Our Twitter page has helped us engage with Western Armenian and diaspora Armenian community members in a short and concise manner. Our Twitter page currently has a total of 425+ followers. Our followers include notable individuals.

Instagram

Our Instagram page has:

• 830+ total followers (doubled in a year);
• 64% of our followers are women, and 36% are men.