Wikipedia:Editor reflections

• When did you start editing Wikipedia?
• Why did you start editing Wikipedia?
• If you could go back in time, what do you think would've helped you as a new editor?
• Did you have help as a new editor? What worked and what didn't?
• Do you think you'll keep editing for the foreseeable future?
• Have you ever been involved with WikiEd?
• Have you ever edited on mobile? If so, what are your thoughts on it? If not, why not?
• Is there anything you would change about Wikipedia? (Question added June 13, 2024)
• Feel free to also share anything else you wish to :)

Large pages can be difficult to load. To prevent such issues, here is an archive of the first 300 interviews:

• Wikipedia:Editor reflections/1–100
• Wikipedia:Editor reflections/101–200
• Wikipedia:Editor reflections/201–300

• When did you start editing Wikipedia?

My first edit was October 2004. (I may have made two or three edits the previous day as an IP). I *think* someone told me about it in summer 2003, but I never followed that up.

• Why did you start editing Wikipedia?

I think maybe the most common route in - I found a mistake and corrected it. Nerdsniping! I really love that edit though - that corrected detail remained in the article right up to 2021, when it was tidied out during a (long-overdue) rewrite, just a couple of months before it would have finally needed to be updated.

• If you could go back in time, what do you think would've helped you as a new editor?

I like a lot of the signposting we have now for suitable newcomer tasks, and so on, but honestly I had a pretty good experience as a new editor and I didn't feel I was lacking support. I'd created a new article and nominated another for deletion before I'd be considered autoconfirmed by current standards.

• Did you have help as a new editor? What worked and what didn't?

There wasn't really much organised help around when I started, and it was possible to get really stuck into things without much guidance - there was so much to do, so you didn't really feel like you were stepping on people's toes or that there was any topic you couldn't find space to work in. I think it was months before I had any kind of significant argument with anyone, which probably helped!

I got into IRC and the mailing lists quite early on and that helped me feel I was well connected with the community.

• Do you think you'll keep editing for the foreseeable future?

Yes, I can't see it ever going away. I've found it definitely goes through peaks and troughs - I spent about five years working mostly on Wikidata instead, and then the pandemic years were a bit of a wipeout for both - but I keep coming back to it.

The only thing I think that could make me give up on it would be a shift to LLM-generated content - I'm so glad we have avoided going down that route.

• Have you ever been involved with WikiEd?

Not with the organised WikiEd program, but I did a lot of work with UK universities in 2012-13 as part of the British Library residency, and then sporadically for a few years after that. I wrote up some notes on that experience as Wikipedia:Participation by academic projects, I think my only project-space essay, but I am not sure it ever got much traction!

• Have you ever edited on mobile? If so, what are your thoughts on it? If not, why not?

It works fine for small copyedits, but can be a pain with large sections of text.

• Is there anything you would change about Wikipedia?

I'd like to see us stop being quite so prescriptive, particularly in issues of style. Our guidelines should describe what the community think is best practice, they shouldn't be treated as laws.

There are regularly big disputes where people feel we Have To Have A Rule on something that's ultimately a stylistic choice - or worse, feel that there is already a rule that can be teased out and made absolute by a lot of very close reading of existing guidelines, as though we're interpreting a constitution. The result is that it blows up into a massive dispute, lots of bad blood and ill-feeling, half the editors involved feel like they lost out, and no-one is satisfied. I think a broader acceptance that a lot of these topics don't have simple clear answers, that there isn't one Correct Solution to all stylistic choices, would help.

• Feel free to also share anything else you wish to :)

A few years back, my partner was chatting to a younger colleague, and for some reason Wikipedia came up in conversation. "Oh, he's been working on it since the early days? I guess you must be rich now." I knew we missed a trick somewhere...

None of us got rich, but some of the nicest, most thoughtful, most dedicated people I've ever worked with have been here. I think sometimes we forget how amazing it is that so many people are just sitting down and giving untold hours of their lives to making other people better informed.

• When did you start editing Wikipedia?

In May 2018

• Why did you start editing Wikipedia?

I generally describe myself at that time as overeducated and underemployed. I had just read a kid’s book, looked up the author on Wikipedia and noticed that some of her books had their own pages, but not the one I’d just read. So I made one. It was deleted right away of course because I hadn’t demonstrated its notability, but in the process I learned about the notability criteria, and so began the journey.

• If you could go back in time, what do you think would've helped you as a new editor?

What really helped me get going properly was making contact with other editors in real life. It is much easier to find out where you are going wrong, get help on technical issues etc if you know who to ask and can ask them directly. I was lucky that not long after my first foray into editing, New Zealand’s Wikipedian at Large ran an editathon on women in art in my city. Attending that gave me a good introduction to Wikipedia, made me feel part of a community, and got some basic questions answered. And I got my first sticker, which was quite motivating!

• Did you have help as a new editor? What worked and what didn't?

Yes. One of the things that really helped was when we started our online meetups in New Zealand. We have monthly meetings, which started during Covid because the Wellington editors, who met fortnightly, couldn’t do it in lockdown. And once they were having online meetings there was no reason not to open them up to the rest of us. They are a great way of interacting as a community and sharing knowledge, plans and concerns. We regularly have some of our Australian friends join us too. o Before that I had had some negative experiences – I find the processes and policies around how to edit Wikipedia are generally covered in exhaustive detail but how the community works is opaque, so I really struggled with how to get help in the community when things went wrong. For instance, when I asked for help on social media when my edits to a page kept getting reverted, I was told I shouldn’t do that as I could be accused of canvassing. That was horrible, I hadn’t even heard of canvassing, let alone that it wasn’t alright, and I wasn’t getting any help from the Teahouse or the WikiProjects I had asked. I ended up giving up and walking away for a while.

• Do you think you'll keep editing for the foreseeable future?

Yes. I’m a Wikimedian in Residence now, at the university. It’s part time for six months, so my focus is much more on teaching and talking about editing than actual editing, but still, I can’t see me stopping. My focus does switch around though, I lead the New Zealand Thesis Project which involves a lot of Wikidata work. And I’m getting more into Wikimedia Commons now, and setting a tentative foot into WikiSource. So much to explore!

• Have you ever been involved with WikiEd?

WikiEd is limited to North America, and I’m based in New Zealand, so no I haven’t been involved directly. But anyone can use their training materials, https://dashboard.wikiedu.org/training, and I find those useful to see how they are teaching various concepts. It is frustrating to me, as someone who deals with Wikipedia in high education, that we don’t have a worldwide WikiEdu. I find that as someone involved with Wikidata and Wikipedia and whose interests are in research, library metadata and women and science history, I end up interacting with a variety of Wiki communities, including GLAM, Higher Education, Wikidata and Libraries and Wikimedians in Residence.

• Have you ever edited on mobile? If so, what are your thoughts on it? If not, why not?

Once or twice, for things that needed correcting quickly. I like to see more of an article than is easy on a mobile though! And typing is just so much easier and faster on a keyboard.

• Is there anything you would change about Wikipedia?

That’s such a broad question! Personally, I would love to see English Wikipedia ban LLM-created content. We are one of the last trusted places on the internet and I think we stand to lose the trust of our readers with AI generated content of any kind. I was upset to take part in a contest recently and discover that the winner had used AI to destub hundreds of articles when I had been doing it all the hard way. I didn’t care about not winning, but I was upset that by competing with them I had potentially pushed them to create more content in a way I don’t approve of.

• When did you start editing Wikipedia?

I began editing Wikipedia in January 2024, soon after I started my PhD.

• Why did you start editing Wikipedia?

During my undergrad studies, I often turned to Wikipedia as a starting point to explore new topics. It was a great way to gain some initial understanding, and from there, I would dive deeper through the recommended bibliography. As my research (focusing on the interactions between the Greco-Roman world and the ancient Near East) developed, I realized that many of the subjects I was passionate about were underrepresented on the platform. After using Wikipedia for so long, I wanted to give back to the community and help make the incredibly fascinating histories of these cultures and periods more accessible to everyone.

• If you could go back in time, what do you think would've helped you as a new editor?

I would have loved to have had a mentor to guide me through the early days of editing. While my background provided me with the research skills I needed, understanding the specifics of Wikipedia's guidelines was a steep learning curve. I honestly didn't grasp what a high-quality article should look like until I started nominating GAs and working through the checklists! Additionally, I believe there's a lack of easily accessible resources to help newcomers navigate the platform with more confidence. Simple, clear guides explaining how to contribute effectively and what's required to get involved in different areas of Wikipedia would have made a huge difference.

• Did you have help as a new editor? What worked and what didn't?

I was fortunate to receive guidance from some experienced editors who offered valuable advice along the way, as well as from the GA reviewers I worked with, all of whom were incredible! However, I must say that there aren't many contributors focusing on the ancient Eastern Mediterranean, just a small handful of us. This makes it challenging to find the right support and exchange ideas within my field.

• Do you think you'll keep editing for the foreseeable future?

Definitely! Editing Wikipedia aligns so well with my research interests, and I really enjoy being part of this community! As my studies progress, I just love to continue contributing, especially as I read new findings and insights from my research on the Eastern Mediterranean and Roman Empire. These days, it's hard for me to read a paper without immediately thinking about where I can add this new information to Wikipedia!

• Have you ever been involved with WikiEd?

Honestly, I hadn't come across it until I saw this question, but I'm definitely open to learn more!

• Have you ever edited on mobile? If so, what are your thoughts on it? If not, why not?

No, I haven't edited on mobile! does it even work well? The level of detail in editing is so precise here that I can't imagine handling things like infoboxes or adding sfns without a mouse and keyboard. That's how I do most of my work, so I prefer to have all the necessary tools at hand.

• Is there anything you would change about Wikipedia?

I would improve the collaboration tools to make it easier for editors in different fields to connect and work together. Maybe the platform could suggest editors to connect and collaborate with based on editing history or interests. A more intuitive way for experts to connect and share resources would certainly improve the quality of articles. I'd also focus on making it easier for new editors to get started. Right now, there's so much to read and understand before you can begin editing confidently. The learning curve is not the simplest, which might discourage talented people who could contribute, but are intimidated by how complex it all seems.

• Feel free to also share anything else you wish to :)

I would just like to say that I am happy grateful that Wikipedia exists, even with its flaws. It's an incredible resource that has democratized knowledge in ways that were not possible before! If it didn't exist, I think it would have been essential to create something like it, open-access knowledge is crucial in today's world. Mariamnei (talk) 12:16, 30 September 2025 (UTC)

Hi @Clovermoss: these are my answers! 😀

• When did you start editing Wikipedia?

• I started editing on May 4, 2025, but the history has been deleted because my edits on that day were a deleted draft.

• Why did you start editing Wikipedia?

• To create an article about my school (the article I talked about above) called David Thomas King School, but the draft I made for it (draft:David Thomas King School) was declined.

• If you could go back in time, what do you think would've helped you as a new editor?

• I have received help from the teahouse and help desk but I have never gotten those {{welcome}} templates on my talk page from another editor. If I have received it when I first arrived to Wikipedia, I might have gotten more understandability of notability and could be becoming to be more experienced editor more quickly, as that list of pages can turn someone's Wikipedia skills to max level.

• Did you have help as a new editor? What worked and what didn't?

• Yes. Also, my Wikipedia learning has been in the following projects:

• Teahouse & Help desk.
• Wikipedia essays and guidelines.
• Emailing info@wikimedia.org for secret help.
• Warns. Sorry...

• Do you think you'll keep editing for the foreseeable future?

• Hope so! I love this project and the many things you can do here!

• Have you ever been involved with WikiEd?

• Not sure what that is but if you refer to the education newsletter, I have signed up.

• Have you ever edited on mobile? If so, what are your thoughts on it? If not, why not?

• I don't know if I have or not. The laptop is my place of editing Wikipedia.

• Is there anything you would change about Wikipedia?

• There are much more, but this is an example: I want everyone (mainly new editors) to have more understandability to Wikipedia's rules and guidelines, and I want them to be more simple.

• Feel free to also share anything else you wish to :)

• This does not have to do with Wikipedia but I will say it as it is a current event in the place I live in (Alberta):

There is a teacher strike there all over the province. Because of this, kids will not be able to go to school until an agreement with the government has been set. See 2025 Alberta teachers' strike for more info.

Thanks, ~Rafael (He, him) • talk • guestbook • projects 14:30, 4 October 2025 (UTC)

• When did you start editing Wikipedia?

My first logged-in pl.Wikipedia edit was on 28 August 2002 and my first logged-in edit on en.Wikipedia was in March 2003, although I seem to remember editing as an IP editor since late 2001.

• Why did you start editing Wikipedia?

Because it's absurd that with the incredible improvements in science and technology of the past few centuries and the greatly improved possibilities of evidence-based, participatory, transparent dialogue, there still exist severe violations of human rights, authoritarian governments, and worse: the crime of aggression, war crimes, crimes against humanity, genocide, including deliberate famine as a war crime, crime against humanity, or genocide and the climate emergency. Like probably most Wikipedians, I expect that accurate and universal open access to knowledge using FOSS at its core is likely, overall, to contribute to solving or at least reducing the severity of many of these problems.

In the sense of the complex system approach to peace and armed conflict, Wikipedia may help to change intractable-conflict systems that are low-dimensional ("polarised") into high-dimensional phase spaces where many more dimensions become significant to the evolution of the system. This increases the chance of not returning to the attractor. An example is Template:Israeli–Palestinian conflict, which lists about 216 dimensions of the Israeli–Palestinian conflict. A good topic for Wikipedia research would be to study to what extent Wikipedia documentation on this topic has helped or is helping to avoid returning to an oscillation around an intractable-conflict attractor.

• If you could go back in time, what do you think would've helped you as a new editor?

Having Wikidata already exist in the early 2000s, together with {{cite Q}} and the Wikipedia-level citation templates on the different language Wikipedias, would have helped me jump 5–10 years ahead of the Wild West epoch before sourcing became mandatory. And it might have encouraged me to do more contributions on other languages, since having to convert the citation templates was an extra hassle needing a private script. Anyway, closed timelike curves are not (yet ;)) known to exist in the real world.

• Did you have help as a new editor? What worked and what didn't?

Definitely. The fact that there were lots of help pages available in the Help: and WP: namespaces, and that I could edit those myself or discuss them on their talk pages, meant that it was up to me to make the effort to seek and ask for help and work with others with as many meta levels as needed. This is fully consistent with the transparent, participatory FOSS culture.

• Do you think you'll keep editing for the foreseeable future?

Yes.

• Have you ever been involved with WikiEd?

Not in WikiEd as such. I did try awarding optional formal credit for non-trivial Wikipedia editing for some official student courses for several years. Several small handfuls of students did actually take up the offer, with varying levels of understanding the basic idea and needing me to either edit or not edit their contributions to make them minimally acceptable. Apparently by November 2002 my effect in encouraging people to use pl.Wikipedia had already been notable, although I think that that predates my courses in which I offered students the option of getting points for Wikipedia contributions.

• Have you ever edited on mobile? If so, what are your thoughts on it? If not, why not?

I've used my PinePhone running the Mobian OS (mostly just Debian GNU/Linux) to edit a few times while travelling. In convergence mode, i.e. with a docking bar + mouse + keyboard + external monitor/tv screen, it's only mildly less convenient than with a desktop computer. I seem to remember editing with only the phone + docking bar + external keyboard (no mouse or external screen) once or twice. That was less convenient, but doable. (For anyone checking my edit history, only one is marked "mobile edit", presumaby because editing with firefox on Debian/trixie on a phone is not easy to distinguish from editing on firefox on Debian/trixie on a desktop computer.)

Trying to edit with the phone on its own seems pointless to me, unless the edits are really trivial, or the edit is fairly simple linkless text on a talk page. There's no point editing without checking related information in parallel - a touchscreen is small and the risk of accidentally saving an edit prior to checking everything properly and including an appropriate edit summary risks making it harder for other people to fix things.

• Is there anything you would change about Wikipedia?

If I were the en.Wikipedia BDFL, then I would remove Google advocacy from Module:Find sources/templates/Find sources or at a minimum reduce the Google advocacy in the source-finding templates. A slightly more realistic scenario, given the increasing enshittification of Google search, is that someone else might relaunch a proposal or RfC, since two years after the late-2023 discussions might be enough for a fresh discussion.

• Feel free to also share anything else you wish to :)

I would encourage anyone interested in encyclopedic documentation of peace processes to browse User:Boud/Draft:WikiProject Peace for tasks needing doing and go ahead and do them. This overall topic does not mean tip-of-the-iceberg topics – specific peace (or appeasement) talks that hit the top of the media or mass pro-peace street protests or anti-war protests, but rather means the actual institutions, legal instruments, specific concrete elements of peace processes. A broad overall peace architecture developed post-WWII and especially since the 1975 Helsinki Accords in Eurasia, and in different ways in other regions such as Latin America. There are researchers who study the topic systematically and publish WP:RSes. There's a lot more to the topic than just mafia-style bargaining by narcissistic criminals, fugitives wanted for war crimes or for crimes against humanity by the ICC, or other national leaders. There are plenty of good sources and plenty of missing articles to be created; this is currently a low-hanging–fruit area of knowledge in Wikipedia. If the number of active editors became big enough, then shifting to WP: space as a full WikiProject would become justified.

Knowledge about the peace and armed conflict system is not guaranteed to prevent a Russia–NATO full-scale military conflict in the coming decade, but ignorance is likely to increase the risk.

Boud (talk) 14:40, 12 October 2025 (UTC)

• When did you start editing Wikipedia? March 2006
• Why did you start editing Wikipedia? I saw errors in the article Arabian horse, started fixing them, and from there (wait for it... ) I was off to the races.
• If you could go back in time, what do you think would've helped you as a new editor? The brand-new editor experience 20 years ago was OK, though it is better now. I do think searching the help interface was a nightmare and it hasn't improved. I think more could be done for editors who arrive "off the street" so to speak. There's a lot of attention given to recruitment and nurturing people through editathons and such, but I wonder what the stats are for where people come from prior to their first edit. For me, I was "off the street," and figured it out, but I think today some of the things put in place for new editors aren't really test-driven by actual editors, they are most just stuff the WMF cooks up without a clue as to what's actually needed.
• Did you have help as a new editor? What worked and what didn't? There were some very kind editors with more experience who were supportive and helpful. I mostly reached out through various help channels and was lucky enough to cross paths with individuals who were able to see what I was trying to accomplish and help me get there. I can't recall if the Village Pump was operational then, but it wasn't helpful if it was. I think WP got a lot better about welcoming and supporting new editors over the years, though it's still a work in progress.

For me personally, it was finding support when I was a not-quite-new but not-yet-experienced editor that was hellish. Wiki-battles over content can be brutal and some people around here can be real jerks. It would be nice if the dispute resolution procedures included a few people on the side who are tasked not to resolve the dispute but to sort through the emotions surrounding the disputes. The mediation process is better than nothing, but I think that while it is correct to focus on the topic, not the contributor, sometimes our challenges ARE about "personalities" and I wish there as a safe place where people could get help simmering down (instead of just referring to WP:NPA, WP:NAM or WP:DICK. ) I have pretty good rhino hide now, but I rather wish it had not been developed with so much scar tissue.

• Do you think you'll keep editing for the foreseeable future? Not as much as in the past because some of my editing energy is currently directed elsewhere, but I see myself as still contributing (including as a WP:RS, I hope) and don't see myself ever stepping away completely
• Have you ever been involved with WikiEd? I have helped teach new users at some editathons, two at a university. I have not directly worked with WikiEd per se.
• Have you ever edited on mobile? If so, what are your thoughts on it? If not, why not? Yes, but I hate it. Some of this is just because my eyes are aging, but some of it is the lack of the tools I need to do comprehensive editing. If I can edit on a browser in non-mobile view, as I can on my iPad, mobile editing is awkward but not horrible. But on a phone, even in a browser, in spite of supposed improvements, it is still awful and I find it near-unusuable. The inability to see things like page history is a huge barrier. People keep telling me to try the app, but every time I have, I just delete it and give up in frustration. It's like Lucy and the football... many promises that this time it will be different. Meh.
• Is there anything you would change about Wikipedia? Some things, though we can probably never escape the challenges inherent to human interaction, we just have to keep re-negotiating our on-wiki Social contract. Wikipedia is a big city with a lot of different neighborhoods. I think that places like the Village Pump are helpful, but I wish we could be a little gentler with one another, remember that things said in writing are sometimes processed at a level not intended, assume a little more good faith and so on. But also, we do have to remain vigilant that not all people are here to edit the encyclopedia. To be honest, I think there are still ways that WP (like the rest of the tech world) still has corners that are a hostile environment for women and anyone else not part of the tech brotopia at times.

I also think there remains a significant disconnect between the WMF and "the community," with each being wary, suspicious, and at times contemptuous of the other. Frankly, without editors and the community, there would be no Wikipedia and we deserve to be treated with more respect by the WMF. On the other hand, I do acknowledge that sometimes the community forgets that someone has to keep the servers running and pay the utility bills. Stuff like Trust and Safety must be a part of the operation and there DO have to be guardrails, all of which ultimately is the legal responsibility of the WMF.

• Feel free to also share anything else you wish to :) I am glad to be a Wikipedian, I am critical of it at times, but that's because it's worth saving. The benefits far outweigh the frustrations and it still is a force for good in the world.

• When did you start editing Wikipedia?

November 2011.

• Why did you start editing Wikipedia?

I wish I could state that I had some kind of grandiose motivation for entering this place. Alas, at the time, I was merely bored.

In time, however, I became aware of the power that Wikipedia exerts on the world's ability to know.

There is a certain pleasure in producing an article that may shed light on a topic that would otherwise be a matter of pure obscurity.

Indeed, my only satisfaction has been that, by producing such articles, I may provide others with a starting point for their own research.

There was a time when I fought in the trenches of controversy, aiming to preserve the neutrality of this place.

PoV pushers of all sorts aim to subvert this encyclopaedia, and by extension, human knowledge.

As what we term 'reliable sources' have themselves become more polarised in this era of disinformation, I fear that the battle is lost.

Thus, I have long since abandoned my post in the trenches.

Focus on the obscure, the unknown, the mundane...

It is through the neutral documentation of these sorts of events, people, and phenomena that Wikipedia truly shines.

• If you could go back in time, what do you think would've helped you as a new editor?

I don't think anything could've helped. The fundamentals of contributing to this encyclopaedia are very easy to understand, despite what everyone is wont to say.

The difficulty lies in the politics of this place. If reasoned debate were a cure for all ills, I doubt I should've had any problems.

• Did you have help as a new editor? What worked and what didn't?

No. I simply observed how other people behaved, and attempted to do my best to copy their behaviour.

Isn't that how anyone learns how to do anything?

• Do you think you'll keep editing for the foreseeable future?

I reckon I will not. I have a bit of spare time for the moment, and a few articles I want to sort out whilst I have that time.

Once these tasks are complete however, it will be curtains for me, I expect. As for why, note what I mentioned above.

In our current age, information has itself become toxic. It is only a matter of time before LLMs weave their corruption across our pages.

I will not waste my time contributing to an encyclopaedia written by machines.

• Have you ever been involved with WikiEd?

No.

• Have you ever edited on mobile? If so, what are your thoughts on it? If not, why not?

No. No one should engage in encyclopaedia writing using a mobile device.

Encyclopaedia writing requires a certain mind-set, a certain level of focus, a certain atmosphere...

The distraction of such devices will inevitably impede one's ability to contribute to Wikipedia in a constructive fashion.

It is important to remember what Wikipedia is, and what it is not.

Wikipedia is not a news ticker, nor some other medium wherein alacrity is paramount.

Wikipedia is an encyclopaedia. Encyclopaedia building is a slow, decades-long task.

Slow down. Take one's time. Invoke the encyclopaedists of yore. There is no deadline.

If you have the benefit of a sturdy writing desk of the good, old-fashioned kind, take advantage of it.

If you have piles of books, scattered about the place, take advantage of them.

Patience. Rome wasn't built in a day!

• Is there anything you would change about Wikipedia?

Everything, I expect. For one, I lament that our king has been effectively dethroned.

Wikipedia is not a democracy. Consensus is not formed by voting.

These basic principles are critical to the functioning of the encyclopaedia, and yet I feel they have withered in recent years.

The various checks that had existed on majoritarian power are fading away. The end result may well be government by clique.

• Feel free to also share anything else you wish to :)

I am not a 'Wikipedian', but I am fervent in my belief that Wikipedia has been a force for good.

Let's hope it stays that way.

• When did you start editing Wikipedia?

Early 2021, as an IP editor.

• Why did you start editing Wikipedia?

I wanted to add an info about my favourite artist (Rema), so when I added the info I wanted to contribute more but I saw that I can't create an Account because my ip address was banned by (ScottishFinnishRadish) I still remember the name, back then I didn't understand Wikipedia so I thought my country was banned from the site, an issue which I'm still having an issue with.

• If you could go back in time, what do you think would've helped you as a new editor?

A mentor and having better knowledge of Wikipedia Policy and and Guidelines, maybe if I have participated or asked questions on Wikipedia Teahouse.

• Did you have help as a new editor? What worked and what didn't?

Mostly from the editor User:2RDD apart from him I learnt everything myself.

• Do you think you'll keep editing for the foreseeable future?

Yes

• Have you ever been involved with WikiEd?

I honestly don't know what that's, first time I'm hearing of it.

• Have you ever edited on mobile? If so, what are your thoughts on it? If not, why not?

I edit using a mobile phone, I have only edited with laptop once on my alt account (a friend's laptop), I can say thou you have to switch to to desktop view to perform some action I can say mobile editor is what I'm used to, maybe when i buy a new laptop, early next year i might switch, but if I'm to rate mobile editor i would give it a 6/10 and desktop 9/10.

• Is there anything you would change about Wikipedia?

Better tools and Tutorials.

• Feel free to also share anything else you wish to :)

Thanks for this lovely platform

• When did you start editing Wikipedia?

I opened my account in 2006, so officially next year will be my 20th, but I really did not start editing until after I retired in 2008, and not seriously until 2012.

• Why did you start editing Wikipedia?

I started taking classes at a local university under a program that allow state residents over 60 to audit classes for free. This resulted in my doing internet searches related to the class topic. Search results are often WP articles, so I read them.

In 2012 I read the article Washington Redskins name controversy. Having been born in DC, but never a football fan, I knew little of the controversy. My academic background in the social sciences is ideal for editing the WP articles on the topic, so I replace the content mainly from news reports with citations of articles in peer-reviewed journals and books by PhDs. Both the Washington and more general Native American mascot controversy are now GA.

• If you could go back in time, what do you think would've helped you as a new editor?

Having been a coder, I jumped right in. I tried the visual editor but don't need it. Having a MA, I have written many academic papers, and have learned to avoid adding anything not sourced.

• Did you have help as a new editor? What worked and what didn't?

I have had little interaction with other editors, who seem to abandon any prior interest after I start editing and article. I have nominated articles for GA just to get another editor to take notice.

• Do you think you'll keep editing for the foreseeable future?

There will always be articles that need work.

• Have you ever been involved with WikiEd?

Did not know about it, but have just installed and will try it.

• Have you ever edited on mobile? If so, what are your thoughts on it? If not, why not?

No

• Is there anything you would change about Wikipedia?

1. Do not allow IP only editors.
2. If an article remains a stub for years, delete it.

• When did you start editing Wikipedia?
  • I created my account on February 2, 2022, though I didn't start editing regularly until February 8, 2023.
• Why did you start editing Wikipedia?
  • My very first contributions were to the Disappearance of Julie Surprenant article, as I was a major crime buff at the time. I currently also enjoy editing articles about politics, video games, music, and current events in general.
• If you could go back in time, what do you think would've helped you as a new editor?
  • It definitely would've been helpful for me to familiarize myself with the major editing guidelines beforehand. I've had to revisit articles I've worked on numerous times to correct grammar, formatting, etc.
• Did you have help as a new editor? What worked and what didn't?
  • Several editors have reached out to me whenever I seemed lost (such as when I was marking minor edits incorrectly during my earlier days on the site). I've always appreciated calm feedback over bad-faith accusations...after all, you can catch more flies with honey than with vinegar!
• Do you think you'll keep editing for the foreseeable future?
  • I intend to keep editing articles as long as there are articles to edit.
• Have you ever been involved with WikiEd?
  • I have not, though perhaps I'll look into this if I can find the time.
• Have you ever edited on mobile? If so, what are your thoughts on it? If not, why not?
  • I scarcely edit on a mobile device, as it's simply much easier for me to do so on a computer. However, if I urgently need to make an edit while I'm away from my computer, I usually don't mind doing so.
• Is there anything you would change about Wikipedia?
  • Many editors would do well to keep in mind that Wikipedia is an encyclopedia, not a social media network. Avoid unprofessional spelling and grammar, sarcastic tones, personal attacks, whataboutisms, gotcha journalism, and so on, especially on talk pages. Also, avoiding false balance should always be prioritized over feigning neutrality.
• Feel free to also share anything else you wish to :)
  • As my first computer science professor always says: "Keep up the great work!"

• When did you start editing Wikipedia?

  13 August 2006, but I had done some editing while unregistered in the months before that.

• Why did you start editing Wikipedia?

  Video games! It was a big hobby of mine, and is still continues to be. I had taken notice that many articles were missing images and summary information, so I tried to familiarize myself with our editorial policies and Wikimedia Commons to understand how to improve them.

• If you could go back in time, what do you think would've helped you as a new editor?

  I did spend a lot of time pouring over guidelines and policies. I think it would have been better to know a few people in-person to talk with about editing early on. I gained that over time, but in the beginning, editing was a pretty solitary kind of exercise.

• Did you have help as a new editor? What worked and what didn't?

  Yes! Both fellow editors and admins alike were helpful, even on times I made mistakes.

• Do you think you'll keep editing for the foreseeable future?

  Nowadays, I'm not editing very much because my life is so different now compared to when I started editing with new responsibilities and priorities than I did before. But I do edit every once in a while, and would like to return to it when the time is right for me.

• Have you ever been involved with WikiEd?

  As a volunteer, no. But with my staff hat on, very much yes.

• Have you ever edited on mobile? If so, what are your thoughts on it? If not, why not?

  Yeah! It's fair to say I was personally not very open to mobile editing when it first became available, and thought I would be committed to desktop for life. But, I remember reading through this essay by Cullen328 written in 2015. I thought it was a smart piece of work and observation, and it got me to try editing on mobile for the first time. While I still continued to edit mostly on desktop, I did made edits via mobile sometimes, and more importantly, had a new perspective of who mobile editing can benefit. Having read it again recently, the essay holds up well even though the platform and internet has changed considerably since 2015.

• Is there anything you would change about Wikipedia?

  More ways for readers and editors to show appreciation for the work that contributors do!

• Feel free to also share anything else you wish to :)

  I'm going to think about this one and respond it later!

• When did you start editing Wikipedia?

I started editing Wikipedia April 22, 2025. I'm kind of "new", timewise, but I think after almost a year I'm much more comfortable with this website and enough to be "experienced".

• Why did you start editing Wikipedia?

I don't really remember, but I think I read a lot of articles and thought to myself, wow, that's really cool. I created my userpage as my first edit. My first mainspace edit was reverted (of course), but I was relatively good at editing, since I was pretty much just observing a lot of it before making a change. My main editing style then was to read the entire article in the editor and fix while I read.

• If you could go back in time, what do you think would've helped you as a new editor?

I definitely needed to have someone either directly help me consistently or have me read policies. Also, early on, I refused to learn concepts directly when editing my userpage (and jeez, it took a while to even learn how templates worked because I didn't check the Help page).

• Did you have help as a new editor? What worked and what didn't?

I had probably an average amount of help. Most of the time I was just trying things out and learning from experience, though. That worked out well for me, I believe.

• Do you think you'll keep editing for the foreseeable future?

Yes, hopefully! I love Wikipedia and it's great to be a part of the community.

• Have you ever been involved with WikiEd?

Not yet, and I haven't had the opportunity to.

• Have you ever edited on mobile? If so, what are your thoughts on it? If not, why not?

Yes, infrequently, when I didn't have access to my computer. It is... not the best, I'd say. At least for me being a long-term computer editor. Mostly because of the difference in skins (Vector 2022 forever), and that editing long sections of text in the interface is a nightmare...

• Is there anything you would change about Wikipedia?

I'm not really sure! I think that there's (usually) room for improvement in everything, though.

• Feel free to also share anything else you wish to :)

In general, my favorite things here are:

1. Userboxen (literally the best invention ever)
2. The "thanks" button (I have thanked... 438 times, to date)
3. XfD
4. Tools! Twinkle is especially outstanding.
5. The community

• When did you start editing Wikipedia?

I made an account in December 2023. I made my first few edits a few months later, around March 2024, on Frida. By that summer, I did Wikimedia Immersive Training with Ocaasi and pushed my first page to mainspace in September, which was Time is a Mother by Ocean Vuong. That October, when I started writing more pages on Asian American literature, was when I really started to edit more frequently and seriously.

• Why did you start editing Wikipedia?

I studied writing in college, and I worked on and off as an editor for magazines and publishers for several years. To me, Wikipedia felt like one way to satisfy both my curiosity about special-interest areas and my desire to work intimately with language simultaneously. In particular, I saw a knowledge gap with regard to Asian American literature on the English Wikipedia, and I felt like it was one niche that I could significantly contribute to given my academic background. Since then, I still see Wikipedia as a way to research, edit, and write with regard to a litany of my personal interests, beyond Asian American literature, including but not limited to film, architecture, music, popular culture, memes, and much more. All in all, editing is simply a great deal of fun, and I learn a lot about everything in doing it. Rarely does a conversation go by with someone where I'm not sharing a fun fact that I've learned from something I've written about.

• If you could go back in time, what do you think would've helped you as a new editor?

I'm fortunate that my Wikimedia Immersive Training was comprehensive enough to encompass just about everything I could be concerned about as a page creator, in particular notability standards, which have helped me determine what I can write a page about as well as defend my page creations when other editors have conflicting opinions about them. I think I would've liked to spend a little more time learning about them, however, since a few of my first hundred articles were validly, understandably flagged for dubious notability. That being said, I think those kinds of disputes helped me learn about them the hard way.

• Did you have help as a new editor? What worked and what didn't?

I'm incredibly grateful not only to the Wikimedia Immersive Training I received but also many other members of the Wikipedia community, in particular my friends at WikiPortraits, many folks I've met at off-Wiki events like WikiHaus and many Wikipedia Days, those whom I've trained with and continue to keep in close contact with, and of course the countless strangers online here whose passing wisdom has helped me become a better editor little by little. I think some editors could be a little gentler in their tone—I've found that some are a little snobbish or combative when one makes a mistake—but overall, my experience with the rest of the community as a newcomer has been largely kind and respectful.

• Do you think you'll keep editing for the foreseeable future?

Of course! I'm always writing new articles and looking for new ways to contribute to the site. I was recently granted permission to review new pages, which I'm really excited to get into. I'm also occasionally interested in doing copyediting drives whenever I have a little more time in any given month. I can imagine slowing down or taking breaks from editing depending on life circumstances, but I can't imagine ever stopping outright.

• Have you ever been involved with WikiEd?

I haven't, but I'm honored that a few of the articles I've written have been involved in WikiEd curricula.

• Have you ever edited on mobile? If so, what are your thoughts on it? If not, why not?

I've only ever replied to discussions on talk pages on mobile. I don't think I've ever pushed an edit on a mobile device, and I've definitely never written a page on one. I generally find it much more convenient to write, edit, research, read, and what have you, on a computer, so I exclusively work on Wikipedia from my laptop. It has nothing to do with the Wikipedia app—which I love to use purely as a reader—but rather the physical, tactile limitations of a smartphone.

• Is there anything you would change about Wikipedia?

I don't think I have any problems with Wikipedia's infrastructure or its procedures. It's a carefully fine-tuned project that, at this point, is rather optimized toward its goals of being freely accessible and freely editable, among others. If I have any concerns about Wikipedia, they largely have to do with its place in and responsibility to the world. How do we get more people to edit, in particular people from marginalized communities or younger age brackets who can possibly help ameliorate some knowledge gaps that still exist here? How do we preserve the general sanctity of information and knowledge in wake of threats to truth by authoritarian regimes, artificial intelligence, and other twenty-first century developments? How do we sustain such a civilizationally important project against the many challenges it currently faces—these, and others?

• Feel free to also share anything else you wish to :)

Thanks for inviting me to chime in a little. I love being a Wikipedia editor!

• When did you start editing Wikipedia?
  • I actually created this account in 2023 to fix a mistake in an article that I had an undisclosed COI with (I wasn't aware of WP:COI, just did it out of good faith lol). I only got more active during my summer break out of boredom I guess, and then I became more active.
• Why did you start editing Wikipedia?
  • As mentioned above, correcting a mistake in an undisclosed COI article. But in all seriousness, I edit because of boredom/hobby/information preservation. The National Library Board in Singapore does a very good job at documenting our history, but I feel like there's a slight bias towards colonial/merger history, so anything past c. the 1960s don't often get documented by the NLB. Moreover, information presented within the NLB ecosystem is underrepresented; sure, they have an online encyclopaedia, but that's a woeful representation of Singapore's history (it often omits some stuff, so it doesn't provide comprehensive information compared to Wikipedia). Not to mention a lot of information is locked behind the NLB's ecosystem.... I guess the final reason for editing is that I believe there's this perception that Singapore doesn't have a lot of culture/has no history, which is just straight up false. There's loads of history everywhere in Singapore, not just "oh Raffles colonised Singapore and then we joined Malaysia and then we independent".
• If you could go back in time, what do you think would've helped you as a new editor?
  • I'm not really sure; I didn't struggle as a new editor, to be honest. I guess making things less bureaucratic? My first DYK experience taught me a valuable lesson, but at the same time, I felt like it was a bit bureaucratic over a pedantic issue, which nearly detracted me from contributing to DYK.
• Did you have help as a new editor? What worked and what didn't?
  • Yeah I kinda did have help. I initially contributed by adding wikilinks to articles, and I received a couple of thanks. I started to then contribute to WP:SG with their NLB encycloapedia thing, which provided me with a foundation of WP:GNG. I also thank ZKang123 for his MRT essay as it provided a solid foundation for quality improvement, in turn developing an understanding for the GAN process
• Do you think you'll keep editing for the foreseeable future?
  • Yeah, maybe. As of writing this, I am procrastinating studying for my preliminary examinations, so I don't have a lot of time to edit now. However, the number of MRT articles to GAN is dwindling, and most information for the CCL/DTL stations can only be accessed via an NLB account, which I don't have because I am a foreigner... I am working on a few long-term projects which are not likely come to fruition. I would love to contribute to a WP:VITAL article just for the sake of it I guess.
• Have you ever been involved with WikiEd?
  • No.
• Have you ever edited on mobile? If so, what are your thoughts on it? If not, why not?
  • I have only edited on mobile once. Most of my contributions are article expansions (non-gnoming stuff), so coupled with the small screen on my phone, there's not much use for me to edit on mobile. That isn't to say that I don't support mobile editing; I think mobile editing is absolutely amazing!
• Is there anything you would change about Wikipedia?
  • I guess the way policies are written. A lot of them are verbose, and the nutshell banner at the top of the policy page doesn't do justice well... so I guess nutshell banners for each section of a policy. I also think that this verbosity (and burcreacy) detracts a lot of new potential editors as it can seem "overwhelming" to them
• Feel free to also share anything else you wish to :)
  • Happy editing! I am also a firm believer that the quality of edits precedes quantity; you could have a million edits, but they're all just gnoming work. I absolutely respect those who do gnoming work and have like a ton of edits, but I just feel we need more quality edits (article improvements and resolving banner issues) (some of our vital articles aren't doing so hot!).

• When did you start editing Wikipedia?

I first joined Wikipedia back in June 2020 (although if you'd quiz me on it without having me look it up, I'd likely say mid-2021 for some reason... even I have no idea why I do this).

• Why did you start editing Wikipedia?

I was bored during the COVID-19 pandemic back in 2020, and I thought it'd be cool to try and become an editor as a way of trying to not get bored. At the time, I was very much into association football (or soccer, if you're from one of the countries that call it that, like I am), and thought I was helping out by creating articles on areas that I felt were missing.

• If you could go back in time, what do you think would've helped you as a new editor?

I feel like knowing about WP:Adopt-a-user way earlier would've helped me massively (by the time I had discovered it, I had already shifted my focus away from here and more towards the Simple English Wikipedia).

• Did you have help as a new editor? What worked and what didn't?

For the most part, not really. Back then, I tended to just try and figure things out on my own, which I did eventually figure out.

• Do you think you'll keep editing for the foreseeable future?

Unless I get burned out as bad as I did on Simple English near the end of 2022, 100%. There's always gonna be some niche thing that'll randomly catch my attention and throw me down a rabbit hole (which as of right now is Fijian and South Vietnamese football here on en).

• Have you ever been involved with WikiEd?

No

• Have you ever edited on mobile? If so, what are your thoughts on it? If not, why not?

I've only edited on mobile maybe a small handful of times, and even then, that was usually to fix some minor issues that I had failed to notice while I was out doing other things.

• Is there anything you would change about Wikipedia?

This is very much my own personal preference (and I very much doubt this will ever happen), but bringing back the old football notability guidelines with maybe some slight alterations. To me, guidelines 3 and 4 were perfectly fine, while most issues with the policy came from how loose the rules regarding 1 and 2 were (I don't know how I would try and fix it personally, maybe increase it to a minimum of 10–20 professional matches? To be honest, I never really put much thought into it until now).

• Feel free to also share anything else you wish to :)

For the most part, I usually stick around the Simple English Wikipedia (where I'm an administrator), although I've recently started editing more and more here. In terms of personal standout articles that I've created, the only real answer for me would be Real Madrid CF's 1927 tour of the Americas, which I'm currently trying to get to GA (maybe even to FA in the future). ShadowBallX (talk) 06:32, 10 March 2026 (UTC)

• When did you start editing Wikipedia?

I made my first edit on March 12, 2014 and created my account on September 7, 2015. I was 12 years old at the time. I wanted to edit my hometown and local hockey team's pages.

• Why did you start editing Wikipedia?

Wikipedia was my favourite website and my go-to location whenever I wanted to know something. When I learnt that I could be a part of the writing and editing process myself, I joined in.

• If you could go back in time, what do you think would've helped you as a new editor?

I'm not sure there's much that was needed to help a new, young editor. For the first years I kept to myself in my own "corner" of Wikipedia: pages of local interest to me.

• Did you have help as a new editor? What worked and what didn't?

I didn't really. Occasionaly other editors would leave helpful notes on my talkpage and pages I was editing, if I recall. I think I joined WikiProject Saskatchewan and mimicked the editing style and behaviours of my fellow project members.

• Do you think you'll keep editing for the foreseeable future?

Surely. Every time I take a break from the Internet, I find editing Wikipedia is one of the things I don't want to go without.

• Have you ever been involved with WikiEd?

No.

• Have you ever edited on mobile? If so, what are your thoughts on it? If not, why not?

Yes, but rarely. I usually do so if I made edits on desktop and then notice some mistakes that I want to quickly fix after I've already put my computer away. I appreciate that the option is there.

• Is there anything you would change about Wikipedia?

No!

• Feel free to also share anything else you wish to :)

Thanks for the questions. And hello from Saskatchewan, Canada.