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[Wikimedia-l] Welcome messages at arwiki
Users on other projects are complaining about the welcome messages at
arwiki. A bot at that project are welcoming people that has no activity at
that project at all. The bot operator claims the activity is valid, but I
can't see that this is a well-behaving bot at all.[1]

I suspect the bot is welcoming every user it can find, but using user
accounts from central login and not users that has local contributions at
arwiki.

Can someone shut down the bot until the user fix the spam problem.

[1] https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/User_talk:Meno25#Welcome_messages
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Re: [Wikimedia-l] Welcome messages at arwiki [ In reply to ]
Have you asked the user how the finding the users?
Have you considered other steps than just jumping to mailing list?
Where are the complaints from the other users to show this is a long
running issue?

On 29 December 2017 at 19:20, John Erling Blad <jeblad@gmail.com> wrote:
> Users on other projects are complaining about the welcome messages at
> arwiki. A bot at that project are welcoming people that has no activity at
> that project at all. The bot operator claims the activity is valid, but I
> can't see that this is a well-behaving bot at all.[1]
>
> I suspect the bot is welcoming every user it can find, but using user
> accounts from central login and not users that has local contributions at
> arwiki.
>
> Can someone shut down the bot until the user fix the spam problem.
>
> [1] https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/User_talk:Meno25#Welcome_messages
> _______________________________________________
> Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at: https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines and https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia-l
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Re: [Wikimedia-l] Welcome messages at arwiki [ In reply to ]
I am not sure this is something we should be discussing on this mailing
list. Please, contact the bot operator or raise it with the arwiki
community.

Regards,

Isaac.

On Dec 29, 2017 10:26 AM, "K. Peachey" <p858snake@gmail.com> wrote:

> Have you asked the user how the finding the users?
> Have you considered other steps than just jumping to mailing list?
> Where are the complaints from the other users to show this is a long
> running issue?
>
> On 29 December 2017 at 19:20, John Erling Blad <jeblad@gmail.com> wrote:
> > Users on other projects are complaining about the welcome messages at
> > arwiki. A bot at that project are welcoming people that has no activity
> at
> > that project at all. The bot operator claims the activity is valid, but I
> > can't see that this is a well-behaving bot at all.[1]
> >
> > I suspect the bot is welcoming every user it can find, but using user
> > accounts from central login and not users that has local contributions at
> > arwiki.
> >
> > Can someone shut down the bot until the user fix the spam problem.
> >
> > [1] https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/User_talk:Meno25#Welcome_messages
> > _______________________________________________
> > Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at: https://meta.wikimedia.org/
> wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines and https://meta.wikimedia.org/
> wiki/Wikimedia-l
> > New messages to: Wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org
> > Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l,
> <mailto:wikimedia-l-request@lists.wikimedia.org?subject=unsubscribe>
>
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Re: [Wikimedia-l] Welcome messages at arwiki [ In reply to ]
Some reactions to welcome bot or welcomes are a little bit "exaggerated" sometimes. it's just a small red color spot in a corner. Two seconds to process it, more time to complain about it.
I study user activities and sometimes I leave welcome messages here and there. 99.5% of the time is because they have some sort of activities on the platform. it happened to me one or two times per year that some users deleted a welcome message I have left here or there. A scenario that occurred more than once is wikidata and old-term users that have some issues with the fact that even if they don't want to be part to it, they do have edits indirectly on such platform. Sometimes they spent more time writing in the object why they are deleting it that simply ignoring it. 
I stick to the fact that with "side" platforms 95% of the users don't care, 4% reply interested or thank for the welcome or similar, and 1% (or less) have issues. Such 1% are mostly long term or established users. In the general framework, I think that leaving such templates from real users to people with some activities is potentially useful, at least to establish a connection.
I also have no direct experience of anyone complaining about bot messages on other "side" platforms, I know about users discovering less "common" wiki such as some of the "Asian" ones, but they are kinda amused. Such bot welcome message arrives when you do something to log in, such as opening one of their articles for example. Or maybe you use a computer when someone else have opened them recently.
We can write a meta policy to leave welcome message only with people with edits, but in the end someone could point out that informing people before they do anything if they actually entered the platform is a good strategy (why wait they have to do something? maybe they need help). On some wiki you get the message as soon as you log in, for example frwiki if I remember with a test from a friend. Why is that different?
The core issue is to be sure that the welcome message has a part in one or two main world languages, and a link to the embassy page. That's the occasion to make it smarter not to remove it totally, we have the expertise to do that. For example you leave the en-N welcome message to people who have edits on enwikipedia and so on. 

Alessandro




Il Venerdì 29 Dicembre 2017 10:27, K. Peachey <p858snake@gmail.com> ha scritto:


Have you asked the user how the finding the users?
Have you considered other steps than just jumping to mailing list?
Where are the complaints from the other users to show this is a long
running issue?

On 29 December 2017 at 19:20, John Erling Blad <jeblad@gmail.com> wrote:
> Users on other projects are complaining about the welcome messages at
> arwiki. A bot at that project are welcoming people that has no activity at
> that project at all. The bot operator claims the activity is valid, but I
> can't see that this is a well-behaving bot at all.[1]
>
> I suspect the bot is welcoming every user it can find, but using user
> accounts from central login and not users that has local contributions at
> arwiki.
>
> Can someone shut down the bot until the user fix the spam problem.
>
> [1] https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/User_talk:Meno25#Welcome_messages
> _______________________________________________
> Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at: https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines and https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia-l
> New messages to: Wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org
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Re: [Wikimedia-l] Welcome messages at arwiki [ In reply to ]
I can estimate the number of welcomes I received to roughly 300, most of
these languages I cannot even copypaste from.
While these messages are useless for sure I don't see any reason to be
bothered of them.

Vito

2017-12-29 10:25 GMT+01:00 K. Peachey <p858snake@gmail.com>:

> Have you asked the user how the finding the users?
> Have you considered other steps than just jumping to mailing list?
> Where are the complaints from the other users to show this is a long
> running issue?
>
> On 29 December 2017 at 19:20, John Erling Blad <jeblad@gmail.com> wrote:
> > Users on other projects are complaining about the welcome messages at
> > arwiki. A bot at that project are welcoming people that has no activity
> at
> > that project at all. The bot operator claims the activity is valid, but I
> > can't see that this is a well-behaving bot at all.[1]
> >
> > I suspect the bot is welcoming every user it can find, but using user
> > accounts from central login and not users that has local contributions at
> > arwiki.
> >
> > Can someone shut down the bot until the user fix the spam problem.
> >
> > [1] https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/User_talk:Meno25#Welcome_messages
> > _______________________________________________
> > Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at: https://meta.wikimedia.org/
> wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines and https://meta.wikimedia.org/
> wiki/Wikimedia-l
> > New messages to: Wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org
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> <mailto:wikimedia-l-request@lists.wikimedia.org?subject=unsubscribe>
>
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Re: [Wikimedia-l] Welcome messages at arwiki [ In reply to ]
Link on my email.

On Fri, Dec 29, 2017 at 10:25 AM, K. Peachey <p858snake@gmail.com> wrote:

> Have you asked the user how the finding the users?
> Have you considered other steps than just jumping to mailing list?
> Where are the complaints from the other users to show this is a long
> running issue?
>
> On 29 December 2017 at 19:20, John Erling Blad <jeblad@gmail.com> wrote:
> > Users on other projects are complaining about the welcome messages at
> > arwiki. A bot at that project are welcoming people that has no activity
> at
> > that project at all. The bot operator claims the activity is valid, but I
> > can't see that this is a well-behaving bot at all.[1]
> >
> > I suspect the bot is welcoming every user it can find, but using user
> > accounts from central login and not users that has local contributions at
> > arwiki.
> >
> > Can someone shut down the bot until the user fix the spam problem.
> >
> > [1] https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/User_talk:Meno25#Welcome_messages
> > _______________________________________________
> > Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at: https://meta.wikimedia.org/
> wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines and https://meta.wikimedia.org/
> wiki/Wikimedia-l
> > New messages to: Wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org
> > Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l,
> <mailto:wikimedia-l-request@lists.wikimedia.org?subject=unsubscribe>
>
> _______________________________________________
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Re: [Wikimedia-l] Welcome messages at arwiki [ In reply to ]
I've usually just don't bother with them, but lately I got complaints about
this specific bot, and the bot operator neglect doing anything with the
problem. That is why I raise the issue, as there are no other forum where
users from one project can make a complaint about misbehaving users on
another project.

Given the response from the bot operator I would say I don't have a good
feeling about this "welcome" at all. It is like those scam emails where you
are greeted in full name. It is creepy…

On Fri, Dec 29, 2017 at 11:19 AM, Vi to <vituzzu.wiki@gmail.com> wrote:

> I can estimate the number of welcomes I received to roughly 300, most of
> these languages I cannot even copypaste from.
> While these messages are useless for sure I don't see any reason to be
> bothered of them.
>
> Vito
>
> 2017-12-29 10:25 GMT+01:00 K. Peachey <p858snake@gmail.com>:
>
> > Have you asked the user how the finding the users?
> > Have you considered other steps than just jumping to mailing list?
> > Where are the complaints from the other users to show this is a long
> > running issue?
> >
> > On 29 December 2017 at 19:20, John Erling Blad <jeblad@gmail.com> wrote:
> > > Users on other projects are complaining about the welcome messages at
> > > arwiki. A bot at that project are welcoming people that has no activity
> > at
> > > that project at all. The bot operator claims the activity is valid,
> but I
> > > can't see that this is a well-behaving bot at all.[1]
> > >
> > > I suspect the bot is welcoming every user it can find, but using user
> > > accounts from central login and not users that has local contributions
> at
> > > arwiki.
> > >
> > > Can someone shut down the bot until the user fix the spam problem.
> > >
> > > [1] https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/User_talk:Meno25#Welcome_messages
> > > _______________________________________________
> > > Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at: https://meta.wikimedia.org/
> > wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines and https://meta.wikimedia.org/
> > wiki/Wikimedia-l
> > > New messages to: Wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org
> > > Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l,
> > <mailto:wikimedia-l-request@lists.wikimedia.org?subject=unsubscribe>
> >
> > _______________________________________________
> > Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at: https://meta.wikimedia.org/
> > wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines and https://meta.wikimedia.org/
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> >
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Re: [Wikimedia-l] Welcome messages at arwiki [ In reply to ]
Looping in the Arabic Wikipedia mailing list.

FYI

Samir Elsharbaty
Communications|Wikimedia Foundation


On Sat, Dec 30, 2017 at 5:02 AM, John Erling Blad <jeblad@gmail.com> wrote:

> I've usually just don't bother with them, but lately I got complaints about
> this specific bot, and the bot operator neglect doing anything with the
> problem. That is why I raise the issue, as there are no other forum where
> users from one project can make a complaint about misbehaving users on
> another project.
>
> Given the response from the bot operator I would say I don't have a good
> feeling about this "welcome" at all. It is like those scam emails where you
> are greeted in full name. It is creepy…
>
> On Fri, Dec 29, 2017 at 11:19 AM, Vi to <vituzzu.wiki@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> > I can estimate the number of welcomes I received to roughly 300, most of
> > these languages I cannot even copypaste from.
> > While these messages are useless for sure I don't see any reason to be
> > bothered of them.
> >
> > Vito
> >
> > 2017-12-29 10:25 GMT+01:00 K. Peachey <p858snake@gmail.com>:
> >
> > > Have you asked the user how the finding the users?
> > > Have you considered other steps than just jumping to mailing list?
> > > Where are the complaints from the other users to show this is a long
> > > running issue?
> > >
> > > On 29 December 2017 at 19:20, John Erling Blad <jeblad@gmail.com>
> wrote:
> > > > Users on other projects are complaining about the welcome messages at
> > > > arwiki. A bot at that project are welcoming people that has no
> activity
> > > at
> > > > that project at all. The bot operator claims the activity is valid,
> > but I
> > > > can't see that this is a well-behaving bot at all.[1]
> > > >
> > > > I suspect the bot is welcoming every user it can find, but using user
> > > > accounts from central login and not users that has local
> contributions
> > at
> > > > arwiki.
> > > >
> > > > Can someone shut down the bot until the user fix the spam problem.
> > > >
> > > > [1] https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/User_talk:Meno25#Welcome_
> messages
> > > > _______________________________________________
> > > > Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at: https://meta.wikimedia.org/
> > > wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines and https://meta.wikimedia.org/
> > > wiki/Wikimedia-l
> > > > New messages to: Wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org
> > > > Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/
> mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l,
> > > <mailto:wikimedia-l-request@lists.wikimedia.org?subject=unsubscribe>
> > >
> > > _______________________________________________
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> > >
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Re: [Wikimedia-l] Welcome messages at arwiki [ In reply to ]
I cannot see malicious intention behind the use of the bot. If you don't
feel spoken to, just ignore it. Why is this a so huge problem?


Greetings

Ting


Am 29.12.2017 um 10:20 schrieb John Erling Blad:
> Users on other projects are complaining about the welcome messages at
> arwiki. A bot at that project are welcoming people that has no activity at
> that project at all. The bot operator claims the activity is valid, but I
> can't see that this is a well-behaving bot at all.[1]
>
> I suspect the bot is welcoming every user it can find, but using user
> accounts from central login and not users that has local contributions at
> arwiki.
>
> Can someone shut down the bot until the user fix the spam problem.
>
> [1] https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/User_talk:Meno25#Welcome_messages
> _______________________________________________
> Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at: https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines and https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia-l
> New messages to: Wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org
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Re: [Wikimedia-l] Welcome messages at arwiki [ In reply to ]
It's a good opportunity to step back and discuss a little something.

The existence of pretty much every bot is a reason to think of a missing
feature in the site's software. The same goes for templates and gadgets.

Why do many wikis have custom welcome templates and bots that send them?
The intuitive answer is "to send a personal message to a new user", but if
it's done by a bot, it's already not personal. What does the bot actually
automate? The placement of a template? But what is the actual purpose of
the template?

Is it to say "hello and welcome"? The notifications feature already does it
nicely.

To send people a list of useful links? I heard many times that new users
actually do find them useful, and it's a good thing. But it's nevertheless
an anecdotal claim, and smarter questions should be asked:
* How many people actually read these messages?
* Are all the links useful? Do people actually click them?
* Could some be removed? Could some be added?
* Why is it different in every project? Could at least some parts be reused
across languages in a robust and properly localizable manner?
* Is the talk page really a good place to do this?
* How useful is it for people for people who come from another language and
have an account auto-created?

And so on.

Welcome templates have been a part of our sites for well over a decade, but
it's never too late to ask fundamental question about what purpose do they
serve, and how could this purpose be served better.

Happy New Year :)

?????? 29 ????? 2017 11:21,? "John Erling Blad" <jeblad@gmail.com> ???:

> Users on other projects are complaining about the welcome messages at
> arwiki. A bot at that project are welcoming people that has no activity at
> that project at all. The bot operator claims the activity is valid, but I
> can't see that this is a well-behaving bot at all.[1]
>
> I suspect the bot is welcoming every user it can find, but using user
> accounts from central login and not users that has local contributions at
> arwiki.
>
> Can someone shut down the bot until the user fix the spam problem.
>
> [1] https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/User_talk:Meno25#Welcome_messages
> _______________________________________________
> Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at: https://meta.wikimedia.org/
> wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines and https://meta.wikimedia.org/
> wiki/Wikimedia-l
> New messages to: Wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org
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Re: [Wikimedia-l] Welcome messages at arwiki [ In reply to ]
Hello Amir,


I think what you are questioning is right. And it is necessary to ask
such questions. In my day job it is my duty to ask and discuss such
questions with my customers.


But, with the time I sort of see that these pure utilitarian questions
are not the only questions that we need to consider. I start to ask
questions that are beyond or below (according to the perspective) these
pure utilitarian questions. I find the answer Meno25 gave on Meta a very
interesting one in this respect. In his answer he was not arguing about
if the welcome-bot is useful or meaningful. He said it is their custom
to do so. What he is pointing to is culture. See, why do we hug, shake
hands, nod, or rub noses, or kiss? From a pure utilitarian point of view
these behaviors are not only meaningless, they are even potentially
dangerous for our health. If we just want to meet other people and talk
to them why do we not just directly talk about what we want to talk
about and make it behind us?


And this is why in my opinion it is good that every project has its own
way to handle welcome message: Because the welcome message is not only a
utilitarian thing, there is culture beyond or below it. There is culture
encompassed from the societies where the project community is embedded
in and there is culture that was created and developed by the project
community.


This is why in my opinion as long as the message is not malicious how
every community handles this is their own thing.


Greetings

Ting



Am 30.12.2017 um 09:29 schrieb Amir E. Aharoni:
> It's a good opportunity to step back and discuss a little something.
>
> The existence of pretty much every bot is a reason to think of a missing
> feature in the site's software. The same goes for templates and gadgets.
>
> Why do many wikis have custom welcome templates and bots that send them?
> The intuitive answer is "to send a personal message to a new user", but if
> it's done by a bot, it's already not personal. What does the bot actually
> automate? The placement of a template? But what is the actual purpose of
> the template?
>
> Is it to say "hello and welcome"? The notifications feature already does it
> nicely.
>
> To send people a list of useful links? I heard many times that new users
> actually do find them useful, and it's a good thing. But it's nevertheless
> an anecdotal claim, and smarter questions should be asked:
> * How many people actually read these messages?
> * Are all the links useful? Do people actually click them?
> * Could some be removed? Could some be added?
> * Why is it different in every project? Could at least some parts be reused
> across languages in a robust and properly localizable manner?
> * Is the talk page really a good place to do this?
> * How useful is it for people for people who come from another language and
> have an account auto-created?
>
> And so on.
>
> Welcome templates have been a part of our sites for well over a decade, but
> it's never too late to ask fundamental question about what purpose do they
> serve, and how could this purpose be served better.
>
> Happy New Year :)
>
> ?????? 29 ????? 2017 11:21,? "John Erling Blad" <jeblad@gmail.com> ???:
>
>> Users on other projects are complaining about the welcome messages at
>> arwiki. A bot at that project are welcoming people that has no activity at
>> that project at all. The bot operator claims the activity is valid, but I
>> can't see that this is a well-behaving bot at all.[1]
>>
>> I suspect the bot is welcoming every user it can find, but using user
>> accounts from central login and not users that has local contributions at
>> arwiki.
>>
>> Can someone shut down the bot until the user fix the spam problem.
>>
>> [1] https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/User_talk:Meno25#Welcome_messages
>> _______________________________________________
>> Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at: https://meta.wikimedia.org/
>> wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines and https://meta.wikimedia.org/
>> wiki/Wikimedia-l
>> New messages to: Wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org
>> Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l,
>> <mailto:wikimedia-l-request@lists.wikimedia.org?subject=unsubscribe>
> _______________________________________________
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Re: [Wikimedia-l] Welcome messages at arwiki [ In reply to ]
Hi Ting, You make a fair point about culture, but the impression I got is that the welcomes were being sent to people who were not intentionally editing the arwiki, or aware that they were doing so, which makes this a cultural thing imposed on people who were not aware of it or expecting it, and who did not have a way to avoid it even if they had known it might happen, which is a bit beyond local culture. For myself I am not bothered by messages from other Wikis, even if I can't read them. I am used to it, but some people are more paranoid than me, sometimes for good reasons. Cheers,
Peter

-----Original Message-----
From: Wikimedia-l [mailto:wikimedia-l-bounces@lists.wikimedia.org] On Behalf Of Ting Chen
Sent: 30 December 2017 11:38
To: wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org
Subject: Re: [Wikimedia-l] Welcome messages at arwiki

Hello Amir,


I think what you are questioning is right. And it is necessary to ask such questions. In my day job it is my duty to ask and discuss such questions with my customers.


But, with the time I sort of see that these pure utilitarian questions are not the only questions that we need to consider. I start to ask questions that are beyond or below (according to the perspective) these pure utilitarian questions. I find the answer Meno25 gave on Meta a very interesting one in this respect. In his answer he was not arguing about if the welcome-bot is useful or meaningful. He said it is their custom to do so. What he is pointing to is culture. See, why do we hug, shake hands, nod, or rub noses, or kiss? From a pure utilitarian point of view these behaviors are not only meaningless, they are even potentially dangerous for our health. If we just want to meet other people and talk to them why do we not just directly talk about what we want to talk about and make it behind us?


And this is why in my opinion it is good that every project has its own way to handle welcome message: Because the welcome message is not only a utilitarian thing, there is culture beyond or below it. There is culture encompassed from the societies where the project community is embedded in and there is culture that was created and developed by the project community.


This is why in my opinion as long as the message is not malicious how every community handles this is their own thing.


Greetings

Ting



Am 30.12.2017 um 09:29 schrieb Amir E. Aharoni:
> It's a good opportunity to step back and discuss a little something.
>
> The existence of pretty much every bot is a reason to think of a missing
> feature in the site's software. The same goes for templates and gadgets.
>
> Why do many wikis have custom welcome templates and bots that send them?
> The intuitive answer is "to send a personal message to a new user", but if
> it's done by a bot, it's already not personal. What does the bot actually
> automate? The placement of a template? But what is the actual purpose of
> the template?
>
> Is it to say "hello and welcome"? The notifications feature already does it
> nicely.
>
> To send people a list of useful links? I heard many times that new users
> actually do find them useful, and it's a good thing. But it's nevertheless
> an anecdotal claim, and smarter questions should be asked:
> * How many people actually read these messages?
> * Are all the links useful? Do people actually click them?
> * Could some be removed? Could some be added?
> * Why is it different in every project? Could at least some parts be reused
> across languages in a robust and properly localizable manner?
> * Is the talk page really a good place to do this?
> * How useful is it for people for people who come from another language and
> have an account auto-created?
>
> And so on.
>
> Welcome templates have been a part of our sites for well over a decade, but
> it's never too late to ask fundamental question about what purpose do they
> serve, and how could this purpose be served better.
>
> Happy New Year :)
>
> ?????? 29 ????? 2017 11:21,? "John Erling Blad" <jeblad@gmail.com> ???:
>
>> Users on other projects are complaining about the welcome messages at
>> arwiki. A bot at that project are welcoming people that has no activity at
>> that project at all. The bot operator claims the activity is valid, but I
>> can't see that this is a well-behaving bot at all.[1]
>>
>> I suspect the bot is welcoming every user it can find, but using user
>> accounts from central login and not users that has local contributions at
>> arwiki.
>>
>> Can someone shut down the bot until the user fix the spam problem.
>>
>> [1] https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/User_talk:Meno25#Welcome_messages
>> _______________________________________________
>> Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at: https://meta.wikimedia.org/
>> wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines and https://meta.wikimedia.org/
>> wiki/Wikimedia-l
>> New messages to: Wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org
>> Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l,
>> <mailto:wikimedia-l-request@lists.wikimedia.org?subject=unsubscribe>
> _______________________________________________
> Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at: https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines and https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia-l
> New messages to: Wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org
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Re: [Wikimedia-l] Welcome messages at arwiki [ In reply to ]
What are the good reason to be poaranoid? The only reason I ever heard is "is making me waste time", usually expressed wasting more time.
BTW, after years of SUL most of the old time users have received a lot of welcome messages and they receive usually two new ones per year, no more in my experience. I made some test with newbies and it does not see more different, when they one open some wikis they might receive a message  (and if they are not used to other culture, that does not happen a lot of time, I suppose) . 
I can think of dozens of things in my life that spam me more, and make me more "paranoid". Yesterday I search a stupid thing and I found a related ad in my youtube after 5 minutes, I told on a chat app that I had the flue and I got a flu treatment opening a web page... spent more time being irritated by these facts, this might have a good impact on everybody's life. 
For wikimedia, just ask to add a link to a meta page where is written down which messages are received via bot simply after log in, so it is super transparent how it works and you learn how the build up of the SUL log in works. Put a link to CentralAuth too.


Il Sabato 30 Dicembre 2017 11:28, Peter Southwood <peter.southwood@telkomsa.net> ha scritto:


Hi Ting, You make a fair point about culture, but the impression I got is that the welcomes were being sent to people who were not intentionally editing the arwiki, or aware that they were doing so, which makes this a cultural thing imposed on people who were not aware of it or expecting it, and who did not have a way to avoid it even if they had known it might happen, which is a bit beyond local culture. For myself I am not bothered by messages from other Wikis, even if I can't read them. I am used to it, but some people are more paranoid than me, sometimes for good reasons. Cheers,
Peter

-----Original Message-----
From: Wikimedia-l [mailto:wikimedia-l-bounces@lists.wikimedia.org] On Behalf Of Ting Chen
Sent: 30 December 2017 11:38
To: wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org
Subject: Re: [Wikimedia-l] Welcome messages at arwiki

Hello Amir,


I think what you are questioning is right. And it is necessary to ask such questions. In my day job it is my duty to ask and discuss such questions with my customers.


But, with the time I sort of see that these pure utilitarian questions are not the only questions that we need to consider. I start to ask questions that are beyond or below (according to the perspective) these pure utilitarian questions. I find the answer Meno25 gave on Meta a very interesting one in this respect. In his answer he was not arguing about if the welcome-bot is useful or meaningful. He said it is their custom to do so. What he is pointing to is culture. See, why do we hug, shake hands, nod, or rub noses, or kiss? From a pure utilitarian point of view these behaviors are not only meaningless, they are even potentially dangerous for our health. If we just want to meet other people and talk to them why do we not just directly talk about what we want to talk about and make it behind us?


And this is why in my opinion it is good that every project has its own way to handle welcome message: Because the welcome message is not only a utilitarian thing, there is culture beyond or below it. There is culture encompassed from the societies where the project community is embedded in and there is culture that was created and developed by the project community.


This is why in my opinion as long as the message is not malicious how every community handles this is their own thing.


Greetings

Ting



Am 30.12.2017 um 09:29 schrieb Amir E. Aharoni:
> It's a good opportunity to step back and discuss a little something.
>
> The existence of pretty much every bot is a reason to think of a missing
> feature in the site's software. The same goes for templates and gadgets.
>
> Why do many wikis have custom welcome templates and bots that send them?
> The intuitive answer is "to send a personal message to a new user", but if
> it's done by a bot, it's already not personal. What does the bot actually
> automate? The placement of a template? But what is the actual purpose of
> the template?
>
> Is it to say "hello and welcome"? The notifications feature already does it
> nicely.
>
> To send people a list of useful links? I heard many times that new users
> actually do find them useful, and it's a good thing. But it's nevertheless
> an anecdotal claim, and smarter questions should be asked:
> * How many people actually read these messages?
> * Are all the links useful? Do people actually click them?
> * Could some be removed? Could some be added?
> * Why is it different in every project? Could at least some parts be reused
> across languages in a robust and properly localizable manner?
> * Is the talk page really a good place to do this?
> * How useful is it for people for people who come from another language and
> have an account auto-created?
>
> And so on.
>
> Welcome templates have been a part of our sites for well over a decade, but
> it's never too late to ask fundamental question about what purpose do they
> serve, and how could this purpose be served better.
>
> Happy New Year :)
>
> ?????? 29 ????? 2017 11:21,? "John Erling Blad" <jeblad@gmail.com> ???:
>
>> Users on other projects are complaining about the welcome messages at
>> arwiki. A bot at that project are welcoming people that has no activity at
>> that project at all. The bot operator claims the activity is valid, but I
>> can't see that this is a well-behaving bot at all.[1]
>>
>> I suspect the bot is welcoming every user it can find, but using user
>> accounts from central login and not users that has local contributions at
>> arwiki.
>>
>> Can someone shut down the bot until the user fix the spam problem.
>>
>> [1] https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/User_talk:Meno25#Welcome_messages
>> _______________________________________________
>> Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at: https://meta.wikimedia.org/
>> wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines and https://meta.wikimedia.org/
>> wiki/Wikimedia-l
>> New messages to: Wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org
>> Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l,
>> <mailto:wikimedia-l-request@lists.wikimedia.org?subject=unsubscribe>
> _______________________________________________
> Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at: https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines and https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia-l
> New messages to: Wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org
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Re: [Wikimedia-l] Welcome messages at arwiki [ In reply to ]
Oh, I absolutely agree that there is an important cultural aspect here.
That's why towards the end of the email I acknowledged that this has been
done for many years.

Nevertheless, it's worth occasionally stopping and thinking about the
usefulness. These messages are supposed to be sent to new users, but the
culture we're talking about is the culture of new users; and at the same
time, we're often saying that many new users have a hard time getting into
Wikipedia. So the welcome templates may—or may not—be part of this problem.
This is just one example of a question worth asking.

?????? 30 ????? 2017 11:38,? "Ting Chen" <wing.philopp@gmx.de> ???:

> Hello Amir,
>
>
> I think what you are questioning is right. And it is necessary to ask such
> questions. In my day job it is my duty to ask and discuss such questions
> with my customers.
>
>
> But, with the time I sort of see that these pure utilitarian questions are
> not the only questions that we need to consider. I start to ask questions
> that are beyond or below (according to the perspective) these pure
> utilitarian questions. I find the answer Meno25 gave on Meta a very
> interesting one in this respect. In his answer he was not arguing about if
> the welcome-bot is useful or meaningful. He said it is their custom to do
> so. What he is pointing to is culture. See, why do we hug, shake hands,
> nod, or rub noses, or kiss? From a pure utilitarian point of view these
> behaviors are not only meaningless, they are even potentially dangerous for
> our health. If we just want to meet other people and talk to them why do we
> not just directly talk about what we want to talk about and make it behind
> us?
>
>
> And this is why in my opinion it is good that every project has its own
> way to handle welcome message: Because the welcome message is not only a
> utilitarian thing, there is culture beyond or below it. There is culture
> encompassed from the societies where the project community is embedded in
> and there is culture that was created and developed by the project
> community.
>
>
> This is why in my opinion as long as the message is not malicious how
> every community handles this is their own thing.
>
>
> Greetings
>
> Ting
>
>
>
> Am 30.12.2017 um 09:29 schrieb Amir E. Aharoni:
>
>> It's a good opportunity to step back and discuss a little something.
>>
>> The existence of pretty much every bot is a reason to think of a missing
>> feature in the site's software. The same goes for templates and gadgets.
>>
>> Why do many wikis have custom welcome templates and bots that send them?
>> The intuitive answer is "to send a personal message to a new user", but if
>> it's done by a bot, it's already not personal. What does the bot actually
>> automate? The placement of a template? But what is the actual purpose of
>> the template?
>>
>> Is it to say "hello and welcome"? The notifications feature already does
>> it
>> nicely.
>>
>> To send people a list of useful links? I heard many times that new users
>> actually do find them useful, and it's a good thing. But it's nevertheless
>> an anecdotal claim, and smarter questions should be asked:
>> * How many people actually read these messages?
>> * Are all the links useful? Do people actually click them?
>> * Could some be removed? Could some be added?
>> * Why is it different in every project? Could at least some parts be
>> reused
>> across languages in a robust and properly localizable manner?
>> * Is the talk page really a good place to do this?
>> * How useful is it for people for people who come from another language
>> and
>> have an account auto-created?
>>
>> And so on.
>>
>> Welcome templates have been a part of our sites for well over a decade,
>> but
>> it's never too late to ask fundamental question about what purpose do they
>> serve, and how could this purpose be served better.
>>
>> Happy New Year :)
>>
>> ?????? 29 ????? 2017 11:21,? "John Erling Blad" <jeblad@gmail.com> ???:
>>
>> Users on other projects are complaining about the welcome messages at
>>> arwiki. A bot at that project are welcoming people that has no activity
>>> at
>>> that project at all. The bot operator claims the activity is valid, but I
>>> can't see that this is a well-behaving bot at all.[1]
>>>
>>> I suspect the bot is welcoming every user it can find, but using user
>>> accounts from central login and not users that has local contributions at
>>> arwiki.
>>>
>>> Can someone shut down the bot until the user fix the spam problem.
>>>
>>> [1] https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/User_talk:Meno25#Welcome_messages
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at: https://meta.wikimedia.org/
>>> wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines and https://meta.wikimedia.org/
>>> wiki/Wikimedia-l
>>> New messages to: Wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org
>>> Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l,
>>> <mailto:wikimedia-l-request@lists.wikimedia.org?subject=unsubscribe>
>>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at: https://meta.wikimedia.org/wik
>> i/Mailing_lists/Guidelines and https://meta.wikimedia.org/wik
>> i/Wikimedia-l
>> New messages to: Wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org
>> Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l,
>> <mailto:wikimedia-l-request@lists.wikimedia.org?subject=unsubscribe>
>>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
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Re: [Wikimedia-l] Welcome messages at arwiki [ In reply to ]
Hi Amir,

It isn't too late to ask about the utility of welcome messages, but be aware that there are reasons for their evolution over the last decade. Your email almost implied that this has been an unreviewed area for the last decade.

There was some research a few years ago that concluded that welcomed editors were more likely to stay, despite many welcomes being of the "welcome your article has been tagged for deletion" variety. If someone fancies digging further it would be good to compare welcomed and unwelcomed editors among the 75% of newbies who edit existing articles and also among the 25% or whatever is left of that who come here to create new articles.

I think that now would be a good time to develop tailored welcomes for mobile and V/E newbies. I'm conscious that the Welcome I usually use assumes that newbies who do good edits are using the classic editor and contributing with something bigger than a tablet. So sometimes I leave newbies unwelcomed rather than give them a potentially confusing welcome.

As for getting a welcome message from a wiki where I have visited but not edited, I consider that a privacy violation. We normally claim not to log anything about our readers, but if a logged in Wikimedian visits arwiki a log is created artificially by issuing them a welcome. It isn't a Privacy violation that especially irks me personally, but if we allow it we should change the global privacy statements accordingly.

Regards

Jonathan


> On 30 Dec 2017, at 13:38, wikimedia-l-request@lists.wikimedia.org wrote:
> Message: 4
> Date: Sat, 30 Dec 2017 10:29:34 +0200
> From: "Amir E. Aharoni" <amir.aharoni@mail.huji.ac.il>
> To: Wikimedia Mailing List <wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org>
> Subject: Re: [Wikimedia-l] Welcome messages at arwiki
> Message-ID:
> <CACtNa8vKK+7tnLh=4VKBmvX4WOaHD3QvGc2N+Cui-br8VQg4sQ@mail.gmail.com>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="UTF-8"
>
> It's a good opportunity to step back and discuss a little something.
>
> The existence of pretty much every bot is a reason to think of a missing
> feature in the site's software. The same goes for templates and gadgets.
>
> Why do many wikis have custom welcome templates and bots that send them?
> The intuitive answer is "to send a personal message to a new user", but if
> it's done by a bot, it's already not personal. What does the bot actually
> automate? The placement of a template? But what is the actual purpose of
> the template?
>
> Is it to say "hello and welcome"? The notifications feature already does it
> nicely.
>
> To send people a list of useful links? I heard many times that new users
> actually do find them useful, and it's a good thing. But it's nevertheless
> an anecdotal claim, and smarter questions should be asked:
> * How many people actually read these messages?
> * Are all the links useful? Do people actually click them?
> * Could some be removed? Could some be added?
> * Why is it different in every project? Could at least some parts be reused
> across languages in a robust and properly localizable manner?
> * Is the talk page really a good place to do this?
> * How useful is it for people for people who come from another language and
> have an account auto-created?
>
> And so on.
>
> Welcome templates have been a part of our sites for well over a decade, but
> it's never too late to ask fundamental question about what purpose do they
> serve, and how could this purpose be served better.
>
> Happy New Year :)
>
> ?????? 29 ????? 2017 11:21,? "John E

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Re: [Wikimedia-l] Welcome messages at arwiki [ In reply to ]
As I recall, communication with newcomers by templates was found to be a
negative factor.

Jeblad

Den lør. 30. des. 2017, 16.58 skrev Jonathan Cardy <
werespielchequers@gmail.com>:

> Hi Amir,
>
> It isn't too late to ask about the utility of welcome messages, but be
> aware that there are reasons for their evolution over the last decade. Your
> email almost implied that this has been an unreviewed area for the last
> decade.
>
> There was some research a few years ago that concluded that welcomed
> editors were more likely to stay, despite many welcomes being of the
> "welcome your article has been tagged for deletion" variety. If someone
> fancies digging further it would be good to compare welcomed and
> unwelcomed editors among the 75% of newbies who edit existing articles and
> also among the 25% or whatever is left of that who come here to create new
> articles.
>
> I think that now would be a good time to develop tailored welcomes for
> mobile and V/E newbies. I'm conscious that the Welcome I usually use
> assumes that newbies who do good edits are using the classic editor and
> contributing with something bigger than a tablet. So sometimes I leave
> newbies unwelcomed rather than give them a potentially confusing welcome.
>
> As for getting a welcome message from a wiki where I have visited but not
> edited, I consider that a privacy violation. We normally claim not to log
> anything about our readers, but if a logged in Wikimedian visits arwiki a
> log is created artificially by issuing them a welcome. It isn't a Privacy
> violation that especially irks me personally, but if we allow it we should
> change the global privacy statements accordingly.
>
> Regards
>
> Jonathan
>
>
> > On 30 Dec 2017, at 13:38, wikimedia-l-request@lists.wikimedia.org wrote:
> > Message: 4
> > Date: Sat, 30 Dec 2017 10:29:34 +0200
> > From: "Amir E. Aharoni" <amir.aharoni@mail.huji.ac.il>
> > To: Wikimedia Mailing List <wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org>
> > Subject: Re: [Wikimedia-l] Welcome messages at arwiki
> > Message-ID:
> > <CACtNa8vKK+7tnLh=4VKBmvX4WOaHD3QvGc2N+Cui-br8VQg4sQ@mail.gmail.com>
> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset="UTF-8"
> >
> > It's a good opportunity to step back and discuss a little something.
> >
> > The existence of pretty much every bot is a reason to think of a missing
> > feature in the site's software. The same goes for templates and gadgets.
> >
> > Why do many wikis have custom welcome templates and bots that send them?
> > The intuitive answer is "to send a personal message to a new user", but
> if
> > it's done by a bot, it's already not personal. What does the bot actually
> > automate? The placement of a template? But what is the actual purpose of
> > the template?
> >
> > Is it to say "hello and welcome"? The notifications feature already does
> it
> > nicely.
> >
> > To send people a list of useful links? I heard many times that new users
> > actually do find them useful, and it's a good thing. But it's
> nevertheless
> > an anecdotal claim, and smarter questions should be asked:
> > * How many people actually read these messages?
> > * Are all the links useful? Do people actually click them?
> > * Could some be removed? Could some be added?
> > * Why is it different in every project? Could at least some parts be
> reused
> > across languages in a robust and properly localizable manner?
> > * Is the talk page really a good place to do this?
> > * How useful is it for people for people who come from another language
> and
> > have an account auto-created?
> >
> > And so on.
> >
> > Welcome templates have been a part of our sites for well over a decade,
> but
> > it's never too late to ask fundamental question about what purpose do
> they
> > serve, and how could this purpose be served better.
> >
> > Happy New Year :)
> >
> > ?????? 29 ????? 2017 11:21,? "John E
>
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Re: [Wikimedia-l] Welcome messages at arwiki [ In reply to ]
Norwegians in general does not use welcoming phrases unless you are family,
close friend, or want something from a person. Or as friend said it; you
welcome your sister and mother to the family party, the guy that shall buy
your old rusty car, and your girlfriend when she comes over and you want to
have sex with her.

Jevlad

lør. 30. des. 2017, 13.00 skrev Amir E. Aharoni <
amir.aharoni@mail.huji.ac.il>:

> Oh, I absolutely agree that there is an important cultural aspect here.
> That's why towards the end of the email I acknowledged that this has been
> done for many years.
>
> Nevertheless, it's worth occasionally stopping and thinking about the
> usefulness. These messages are supposed to be sent to new users, but the
> culture we're talking about is the culture of new users; and at the same
> time, we're often saying that many new users have a hard time getting into
> Wikipedia. So the welcome templates may—or may not—be part of this problem.
> This is just one example of a question worth asking.
>
> ?????? 30 ????? 2017 11:38,? "Ting Chen" <wing.philopp@gmx.de> ???:
>
> > Hello Amir,
> >
> >
> > I think what you are questioning is right. And it is necessary to ask
> such
> > questions. In my day job it is my duty to ask and discuss such questions
> > with my customers.
> >
> >
> > But, with the time I sort of see that these pure utilitarian questions
> are
> > not the only questions that we need to consider. I start to ask questions
> > that are beyond or below (according to the perspective) these pure
> > utilitarian questions. I find the answer Meno25 gave on Meta a very
> > interesting one in this respect. In his answer he was not arguing about
> if
> > the welcome-bot is useful or meaningful. He said it is their custom to do
> > so. What he is pointing to is culture. See, why do we hug, shake hands,
> > nod, or rub noses, or kiss? From a pure utilitarian point of view these
> > behaviors are not only meaningless, they are even potentially dangerous
> for
> > our health. If we just want to meet other people and talk to them why do
> we
> > not just directly talk about what we want to talk about and make it
> behind
> > us?
> >
> >
> > And this is why in my opinion it is good that every project has its own
> > way to handle welcome message: Because the welcome message is not only a
> > utilitarian thing, there is culture beyond or below it. There is culture
> > encompassed from the societies where the project community is embedded in
> > and there is culture that was created and developed by the project
> > community.
> >
> >
> > This is why in my opinion as long as the message is not malicious how
> > every community handles this is their own thing.
> >
> >
> > Greetings
> >
> > Ting
> >
> >
> >
> > Am 30.12.2017 um 09:29 schrieb Amir E. Aharoni:
> >
> >> It's a good opportunity to step back and discuss a little something.
> >>
> >> The existence of pretty much every bot is a reason to think of a missing
> >> feature in the site's software. The same goes for templates and gadgets.
> >>
> >> Why do many wikis have custom welcome templates and bots that send them?
> >> The intuitive answer is "to send a personal message to a new user", but
> if
> >> it's done by a bot, it's already not personal. What does the bot
> actually
> >> automate? The placement of a template? But what is the actual purpose of
> >> the template?
> >>
> >> Is it to say "hello and welcome"? The notifications feature already does
> >> it
> >> nicely.
> >>
> >> To send people a list of useful links? I heard many times that new users
> >> actually do find them useful, and it's a good thing. But it's
> nevertheless
> >> an anecdotal claim, and smarter questions should be asked:
> >> * How many people actually read these messages?
> >> * Are all the links useful? Do people actually click them?
> >> * Could some be removed? Could some be added?
> >> * Why is it different in every project? Could at least some parts be
> >> reused
> >> across languages in a robust and properly localizable manner?
> >> * Is the talk page really a good place to do this?
> >> * How useful is it for people for people who come from another language
> >> and
> >> have an account auto-created?
> >>
> >> And so on.
> >>
> >> Welcome templates have been a part of our sites for well over a decade,
> >> but
> >> it's never too late to ask fundamental question about what purpose do
> they
> >> serve, and how could this purpose be served better.
> >>
> >> Happy New Year :)
> >>
> >> ?????? 29 ????? 2017 11:21,? "John Erling Blad" <jeblad@gmail.com> ???:
> >>
> >> Users on other projects are complaining about the welcome messages at
> >>> arwiki. A bot at that project are welcoming people that has no activity
> >>> at
> >>> that project at all. The bot operator claims the activity is valid,
> but I
> >>> can't see that this is a well-behaving bot at all.[1]
> >>>
> >>> I suspect the bot is welcoming every user it can find, but using user
> >>> accounts from central login and not users that has local contributions
> at
> >>> arwiki.
> >>>
> >>> Can someone shut down the bot until the user fix the spam problem.
> >>>
> >>> [1] https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/User_talk:Meno25#Welcome_messages
> >>> _______________________________________________
> >>> Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at: https://meta.wikimedia.org/
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> >>>
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> >
> >
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Re: [Wikimedia-l] Welcome messages at arwiki [ In reply to ]
There are many million users registered in central auth. Most have not
edited anywhere, and never even visited ar.wikipedia.org. welcoming these
is actually harmful in a demonstrable way: readers will be notified of this
useless welcome by email, or the notification tool. If this were
multiplied across our

On 29 Dec 2017 10:20, "Vi to" <vituzzu.wiki@gmail.com> wrote:

> I can estimate the number of welcomes I received to roughly 300, most of
> these languages I cannot even copypaste from.
> While these messages are useless for sure I don't see any reason to be
> bothered of them.
>
> Vito
>
> 2017-12-29 10:25 GMT+01:00 K. Peachey <p858snake@gmail.com>:
>
> > Have you asked the user how the finding the users?
> > Have you considered other steps than just jumping to mailing list?
> > Where are the complaints from the other users to show this is a long
> > running issue?
> >
> > On 29 December 2017 at 19:20, John Erling Blad <jeblad@gmail.com> wrote:
> > > Users on other projects are complaining about the welcome messages at
> > > arwiki. A bot at that project are welcoming people that has no activity
> > at
> > > that project at all. The bot operator claims the activity is valid,
> but I
> > > can't see that this is a well-behaving bot at all.[1]
> > >
> > > I suspect the bot is welcoming every user it can find, but using user
> > > accounts from central login and not users that has local contributions
> at
> > > arwiki.
> > >
> > > Can someone shut down the bot until the user fix the spam problem.
> > >
> > > [1] https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/User_talk:Meno25#Welcome_messages
> > > _______________________________________________
> > > Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at: https://meta.wikimedia.org/
> > wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines and https://meta.wikimedia.org/
> > wiki/Wikimedia-l
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> >
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Re: [Wikimedia-l] Welcome messages at arwiki [ In reply to ]
On Sat, Dec 30, 2017 at 8:08 AM, John Erling Blad <jeblad@gmail.com> wrote:
> As I recall, communication with newcomers by templates was found to be a
> negative factor.
>

The results from past research are Not easy to summarize, and
definitely not that simple, because of all the varying factors in both
the templates and the research projects.
E.g. message-length/-linkcount/-tone/-formatting (all of which slowly
change over the years), the reason/timing for receiving a welcome
(account-creation, first-edit, random edit, time-after-event), whether
anything else was communicated around the same time (e.g. additional
warning templates) on the same page or elsewhere, whether the welcome
was personalized at all, what username it was signed with (a human
name in my language, a funny avatar name, a generic bot-name, etc),
etc -- all of which can be different (subtly or significantly) at
every project and every instance).
Some relevant links include:
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Research:New_editor_welcome_wishlist#Results_and_discussion
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Template_A/B_testing/Results#Welcome_messages
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Research:Rhetoric_of_the_welcome_message
but there are many more formal and informal attempts to understand and
improve it all (from Enwiki's Teahouse initiatives, to all the
scattered multilingual template_talk and wikiproject discussions (from
Q6137590, to all the topic-specific wikiprojects)).

TL;DR: Onboarding is complicated.
Many people are helped by welcome messages.
Many welcome messages are (or were) imperfect (too
long/dense/formal/informal/irrelevant/technical/etc).
I do not know if there is any specific research that focuses purely on
the timing (whether it is best to send at account-creation, after
first-edit, after human-review of an edit, whilst the user is
logged-in or offline, etc), but I agree it might be useful.

Here are some of the other research projects that look at welcome
templates as one of the factors, but not the primary focus,
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Research:New_user_help_requests/Full_report
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Research:Ignored_period_and_retention
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Research:Framing_Support_for_Newcomers
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Research:Alternative_lifecycles_of_new_users

Lastly, regarding the specific instance of Arwiki
- it's better than nothing, because some people will Not edit until
given some encouragement, and some people like to read the rules
before they start something.
- It would be good if the bot could distinguish between
accounts-made-locally (i.e. likely to be able to read Arabic) vs
accounts-attached-via-Single-User-Login (and to only send those latter
accounts a welcome message, after they've made 1 edit locally). I
don't know if that is currently possible or feasible.

Quiddity

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Re: [Wikimedia-l] Welcome messages at arwiki [ In reply to ]
What Quiddity said.

If we're talking about impact on (good faith) new editors, yes, it's
complicated but the bulk of the evidence points to certain kinds of
welcomes[1][2] being effective at driving retention (every little bit
helps), and others having no effect at all, and maybe a few approaches
actively turning some people off. Has something to do with the form of the
welcome (giant walls of links are probably not very helpful, and may be
intimidating), the purpose of the welcome (is this a general "hey there" or
an invitation to read or participate in something that might be useful
and/or engaging to the intended recipient?) and the timing of the welcome
(new editors give up quickly; often the welcome or offer of support comes
too late).

If we're talking about the impact on experienced editors who have never
edited on that particular wiki... I've received these kinds of messages on
wikis I haven't edited, but viewed while logged in. I don't see the problem
here from a spam standpoint. Calling this harm may be a stretch?

However, I agree with Jonathan's argument that this may constitute a
privacy violation—but if the welcome bot is pulling from a public log to
send these welcomes (as it must be), then the potential privacy violation
occurs regardless of whether a welcome is sent, and the fix, if deemed
necessary, needs to happen upstream.

Regardless, has anyone asked Meno25 if they are willing and able to update
the bot to distinguish between locally vs SUL-created accounts? Or offered
to help do so? They have been willing to make changes
<https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/User_talk:Meno25#substituting_welcome_template_is_without_value>
in the past. It sounds like that would fix the issue that prompted this
thread.

- Jonathan

1.
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Research:Teahouse_long_term_new_editor_retention
2. Boreum Choi, Kira Alexander, Robert E. Kraut, and John M. Levine. 2010.
Socialization tactics in wikipedia and their effects. In *Proceedings of
the 2010 ACM conference on Computer supported cooperative work* (CSCW '10).
ACM, New York, NY, USA, 107-116. DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1145/1718918.1718940

On Sat, Dec 30, 2017 at 2:53 PM, quiddity <pandiculation@gmail.com> wrote:

> On Sat, Dec 30, 2017 at 8:08 AM, John Erling Blad <jeblad@gmail.com>
> wrote:
> > As I recall, communication with newcomers by templates was found to be a
> > negative factor.
> >
>
> The results from past research are Not easy to summarize, and
> definitely not that simple, because of all the varying factors in both
> the templates and the research projects.
> E.g. message-length/-linkcount/-tone/-formatting (all of which slowly
> change over the years), the reason/timing for receiving a welcome
> (account-creation, first-edit, random edit, time-after-event), whether
> anything else was communicated around the same time (e.g. additional
> warning templates) on the same page or elsewhere, whether the welcome
> was personalized at all, what username it was signed with (a human
> name in my language, a funny avatar name, a generic bot-name, etc),
> etc -- all of which can be different (subtly or significantly) at
> every project and every instance).
> Some relevant links include:
> https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Research:New_editor_
> welcome_wishlist#Results_and_discussion
> https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Template_A/B_testing/
> Results#Welcome_messages
> https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Research:Rhetoric_of_the_welcome_message
> but there are many more formal and informal attempts to understand and
> improve it all (from Enwiki's Teahouse initiatives, to all the
> scattered multilingual template_talk and wikiproject discussions (from
> Q6137590, to all the topic-specific wikiprojects)).
>
> TL;DR: Onboarding is complicated.
> Many people are helped by welcome messages.
> Many welcome messages are (or were) imperfect (too
> long/dense/formal/informal/irrelevant/technical/etc).
> I do not know if there is any specific research that focuses purely on
> the timing (whether it is best to send at account-creation, after
> first-edit, after human-review of an edit, whilst the user is
> logged-in or offline, etc), but I agree it might be useful.
>
> Here are some of the other research projects that look at welcome
> templates as one of the factors, but not the primary focus,
> https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Research:New_user_help_
> requests/Full_report
> https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Research:Ignored_period_and_retention
> https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Research:Framing_Support_for_Newcomers
> https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Research:Alternative_
> lifecycles_of_new_users
>
> Lastly, regarding the specific instance of Arwiki
> - it's better than nothing, because some people will Not edit until
> given some encouragement, and some people like to read the rules
> before they start something.
> - It would be good if the bot could distinguish between
> accounts-made-locally (i.e. likely to be able to read Arabic) vs
> accounts-attached-via-Single-User-Login (and to only send those latter
> accounts a welcome message, after they've made 1 edit locally). I
> don't know if that is currently possible or feasible.
>
> Quiddity
>
> _______________________________________________
> Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at: https://meta.wikimedia.org/
> wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines and https://meta.wikimedia.org/
> wiki/Wikimedia-l
> New messages to: Wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org
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>



--
Jonathan T. Morgan
Senior Design Researcher
Wikimedia Foundation
User:Jmorgan (WMF) <https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Jmorgan_(WMF)>
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Re: [Wikimedia-l] Welcome messages at arwiki [ In reply to ]
It may or may not be a coincidence, but today I heard a similar complaint
from somebody who occasionally edits in Hebrew, and was freaked out by a
welcome message that was sent after he simply read a page in the French
Wikipedia.

As Jonathan says, even if it is a privacy issue, it's not really a new one,
because user creation logs have been public for a long time; it may just be
more visible because of the bots.

And again, at a more appropriate time: very happy new year to all!

?????? 29 ????? 2017 11:21,? "John Erling Blad" <jeblad@gmail.com> ???:

> Users on other projects are complaining about the welcome messages at
> arwiki. A bot at that project are welcoming people that has no activity at
> that project at all. The bot operator claims the activity is valid, but I
> can't see that this is a well-behaving bot at all.[1]
>
> I suspect the bot is welcoming every user it can find, but using user
> accounts from central login and not users that has local contributions at
> arwiki.
>
> Can someone shut down the bot until the user fix the spam problem.
>
> [1] https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/User_talk:Meno25#Welcome_messages
> _______________________________________________
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Re: [Wikimedia-l] Welcome messages at arwiki [ In reply to ]
I'm surprised that this whole thing is even an issue at this late date.
Considering the importance to the projects of recruiting and retaining
contrbutors, how is it possible to be in a position where the various
projects do not have a comprehensive understanding of, and well-researched
evidence-based policies for, welcoming new contributors, and efficient and
effective tools in place to implement those policies? Indeed, why were
these things not all sorted out at least a decade ago?

On Fri, Dec 29, 2017 at 9:20 AM, John Erling Blad <jeblad@gmail.com> wrote:

> Users on other projects are complaining about the welcome messages at
> arwiki. A bot at that project are welcoming people that has no activity at
> that project at all. The bot operator claims the activity is valid, but I
> can't see that this is a well-behaving bot at all.[1]
>
> I suspect the bot is welcoming every user it can find, but using user
> accounts from central login and not users that has local contributions at
> arwiki.
>
> Can someone shut down the bot until the user fix the spam problem.
>
> [1] https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/User_talk:Meno25#Welcome_messages
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Re: [Wikimedia-l] Welcome messages at arwiki [ In reply to ]
I have created https://phabricator.wikimedia.org/T183876 and am pinging
Legal to request a review of this matter.

Happy new year,

Pine
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Re: [Wikimedia-l] Welcome messages at arwiki [ In reply to ]
I'm scared of the solutions that will "fix" this.
I expect something as dramatically useful as the removal of "unblock this
IP" button for IPs caught by autoblocks of registered users.

Vito

2018-01-01 22:46 GMT+01:00 Pine W <wiki.pine@gmail.com>:

> I have created https://phabricator.wikimedia.org/T183876 and am pinging
> Legal to request a review of this matter.
>
> Happy new year,
>
> Pine
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>
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Re: [Wikimedia-l] Welcome messages at arwiki [ In reply to ]
Possibly because they have been busy with other things?
Cheers,
Peter

-----Original Message-----
From: Wikimedia-l [mailto:wikimedia-l-bounces@lists.wikimedia.org] On Behalf Of Renée Bagslint
Sent: 01 January 2018 00:10
To: Wikimedia Mailing List
Subject: Re: [Wikimedia-l] Welcome messages at arwiki

I'm surprised that this whole thing is even an issue at this late date.
Considering the importance to the projects of recruiting and retaining contrbutors, how is it possible to be in a position where the various projects do not have a comprehensive understanding of, and well-researched evidence-based policies for, welcoming new contributors, and efficient and effective tools in place to implement those policies? Indeed, why were these things not all sorted out at least a decade ago?

On Fri, Dec 29, 2017 at 9:20 AM, John Erling Blad <jeblad@gmail.com> wrote:

> Users on other projects are complaining about the welcome messages at
> arwiki. A bot at that project are welcoming people that has no
> activity at that project at all. The bot operator claims the activity
> is valid, but I can't see that this is a well-behaving bot at all.[1]
>
> I suspect the bot is welcoming every user it can find, but using user
> accounts from central login and not users that has local contributions
> at arwiki.
>
> Can someone shut down the bot until the user fix the spam problem.
>
> [1] https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/User_talk:Meno25#Welcome_messages
> _______________________________________________
> Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at: https://meta.wikimedia.org/
> wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines and https://meta.wikimedia.org/
> wiki/Wikimedia-l New messages to: Wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org
> Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l,
> <mailto:wikimedia-l-request@lists.wikimedia.org?subject=unsubscribe>
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