Understanding Wikimedia audiences in the United Kingdom to achieve knowledge equity
Methodology
- 15 minute online survey
- Fieldwork dates: 17th-23th June 2022
- Sampled to be representative of the UK online population on age, gender
- Age 18+
- 500 respondents representative of the UK Population on age and gender
- 1000 Boost interviews amongst Ethnic Minorities
Key Insights
- Overall, Wikipedia enjoys good awareness and usage
- Wikipedia has a youth issue in Japan
- The Black community, especially Black women, are disengaged
- LGBTQ community feel less represented, especially those who are non-white
- Overall women are generally positive, but have low usage and feel less represented
- Gen Z are less likely to be engaged vs. older groups
Usage and Awareness
- Younger audiences, and men, less aware of Wikipedia
- British women use Wikipedia less, with lower usage also among Black British
- Brits overall want more cooking content, with specific topic areas desired per community
- Young people more likely to not use because it doesn’t represent them, LGBTQ want different experience
Perception and Representation
- Black/ mixed ethnicity men feel more represented in UK media vs. Wikipedia
- British people generally feel there are right amount of articles for each community
- Black men and women least trusting that Wikipedia articles are fair & representative
- LGBTQ non-white community has more negative perceptions of Wikipedia, older people more positive
Editing
- Strong interest in editing, especially among younger people – Wikipedia should be leveraging this interest
- Interest driven by a passion for writing and sharing of knowledge
- A lack of skill and time the greatest barriers to editing on Wikipedia
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