There is a detailed and factual post released today on Medium about
how poor a reader experience Medium is for blog posts, due to
tracking, profiling and banner advertising.[1]
For those that recall discussion in response to the WMF choice of
Facebook and Medium to communicate the report from George Oates last
month, this seems a decently factual summary of some of the reasons
why this is a poor practical choice for comms, as well as an ethical
issue when calmly measured against our open movement values.
The conclusion should ring alarm bells for any WMF staffer with
responsibility for Communications and is still tempted to promote
Medium by posting or cross-posting there, or indeed any other platform
which uses the same commercial techniques:
"Basically, you’re selling readers to aggressive Medium
self-advertising so that Medium could make laughably small money from
a miserable fraction of them. And annoy the hell out of everyone
else."
Links:
1.
So, no learning points from this expensive feedback, cost measured in volunteer time and
damage to good will from the most active and committed volunteers.
Sorry, do not expect me to believe in future political statements of values and ethics
from the WMF, when they are thrown away at any slight inconvenience.
Fae
On Wed, 31 Oct 2018, 15:23 Sandra Fauconnier via Commons-l,
<commons-l(a)lists.wikimedia.org> wrote:
>
> Hi everyone,
>
> I did indeed include the link to the Village Pump discussion in my original post, but
not in the best or most visible/encouraging way. My apologies. It's not at all my
intention to force anyone to use a platform they don't like, and I apologize again if
I gave that impression.
>
> Many people in our communities discuss very actively and constructively on Facebook,
and increasingly on Telegram, and probably on quite a few other platforms that may or may
not be aligned with our values as much as we would like. As a long-time Wikimedian in my
free time, I'm a strong open source and OpenGLAM advocate and fan, but I will be the
first to admit I'm not a purist, I do indeed use Facebook and a few of these other
Evil Places, and I don't mind tracking (and pointing to) conversations happening
elsewhere. I do feel conflicted about this (like about many other things in that
complicated thing called life) but I give priority to hearing more voices here.
>
> The interview is indeed intended as a 'fresh' perspective from an informed
outsider. While we may not agree with everything George says, hopefully there are nuggets
of interesting feedback that we can use to our benefit. This is not meant to replace the
community's ideas, needs and vision at all. It's additional to it.
>
> Cheers, Sandra
>
> On Wed, Oct 31, 2018 at 3:48 PM Steinsplitter Wiki via Commons-l
<commons-l(a)lists.wikimedia.org> wrote:
>>
>>
>> >>I'm sure we can find a suitable place to discuss this on-wiki, and
there should be an appropriate link for that.
>>
>>
>> I see Sara posted it on the VP as well:
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Commons:Village_pump#Blog_post:_intervie…
>>
>>
>> :)
>>
>>
>> >>As for the actual topic of the interview, I am glad to see an outside
opinion from someone who has experience with large, community-driven media repositories. I
might not agree with all the sentiments, and structured data and out Next Big Thing did
not exactly feature prominently, but I find it refreshing to leave the echo chamber once
in a while.
>>
>>
>>
>> This is true as well.
>>
>> BTW: If my initial post sounded a bit rude, please excuse for that.
>>
>> --Steinsplitter
>>
>> ________________________________
>> Von: Commons-l <commons-l-bounces(a)lists.wikimedia.org> im Auftrag von
Magnus Manske via Commons-l <commons-l(a)lists.wikimedia.org>
>> Gesendet: Mittwoch, 31. Oktober 2018 15:43
>> An: Walter Siegmund; Wikimedia Commons Discussion List
>> Betreff: Re: [Commons-l] new blog post: interview with designer George Oates
about Wikimedia Commons
>>
>> Some quick thoughts from me.
>>
>> I, too, find the Facebook/Medium discussion reroute unfortunate (I'm not even
on Facebook), though it might help attract some more newcomers. I'm sure we can find a
suitable place to discuss this on-wiki, and there should be an appropriate link for that.
>>
>> As for the actual topic of the interview, I am glad to see an outside opinion
from someone who has experience with large, community-driven media repositories. I might
not agree with all the sentiments, and structured data and out Next Big Thing did not
exactly feature prominently, but I find it refreshing to leave the echo chamber once in a
while.
>>
>> Cheers,
>> Magnus
>>
>> On Wed, Oct 31, 2018 at 2:23 PM Walter Siegmund via Commons-l
<commons-l(a)lists.wikimedia.org> wrote:
>>
>> Why should we Commons contributors participate in a discussion on Facebook, a
corporation that has generated great wealth for its founder by distributing advertising
that includes democracy-destroying and hate-filled propaganda? It is antithetical to the
principles of most of our participants. I’m profoundly disappointed that a discussion on
Facebook would be promoted by the office of GLAM and Structured Data, Wikimedia
Foundation.
>>
>> Best wishes,
>> Walter
>>
>> > On Oct 31, 2018, at 6:41 AM, Gnangarra via Commons-l
<commons-l(a)lists.wikimedia.org> wrote:
>> >
>> > I too dislike the idea of having to pay to contribute to a discussion about
Wikimedia Commons. I also see some irony in advice from a platform that being generous
can be described as having lost its way many years ago, yes we can learn from the mistakes
of others. As others have said collectively we are capable of amazing things, we are doing
something special as we look forward we mustn't lose sight what our purpose is and our
goals are.
>> >
>> > Dont forget
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Commons:Structured_data will
have impact so much of what is spoken about wont be relevant
>> >
>> >
>> > On Wed, 31 Oct 2018 at 21:15, Iván Hernández Cazorla via Commons-l
<commons-l(a)lists.wikimedia.org> wrote:
>> > On 31/10/18 13:08, Federico Leva (Nemo) via Commons-l wrote:
>> > > Sandra Fauconnier via Commons-l, 31/10/2018 10:58:
>> > >> Medium, where you can leave comments:
>> > >
>> > > It's truly terrible if we're now outsourcing comments to an
external
>> > > proprietary platform.
>> >
>> > Totally agree with both of you, Federico and Fae.
>> >
>> > I don't understand the outsourcing of comments nor the promotion from
>> > the Wikimedia Foundation of services as Facebook.
>> >
>> > Regards,
>> > Iván
>> > --
>> > Iván Hernández Cazorla
>> > Historiador e interesado en las humanidades digitales
>> > Miembro de Wikimedia España
>> >
https://ivanhercaz.com |
https://keybase.io/ivanhercaz
>> > _______________________________________________
>> > Commons-l mailing list
>> > Commons-l(a)lists.wikimedia.org
>> >
https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/commons-l
>> >
>> >
>> > --
>> > GN.
>> > Noongarpedia:
https://incubator.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wp/nys/Main_Page
>> > WMAU:
http://www.wikimedia.org.au/wiki/User:Gnangarra
>> > Photo Gallery:
http://gnangarra.redbubble.com
>> > Out now: A.Gaynor, P. Newman and P. Jennings (eds.), Never Again:
Reflections on Environmental Responsibility after Roe 8, UWAP, 2017. Order here.
>> >
>> > _______________________________________________
>> > Commons-l mailing list
>> > Commons-l(a)lists.wikimedia.org
>> >
https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/commons-l
>>
>>
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>
>
>
> --
> Sandra Fauconnier
> Program Officer, GLAM and Structured Data, Wikimedia Foundation
> Twitter: @glamwiki
>
> How Galleries, Libraries, Archives and Museums work with Wikimedia communities:
https://outreach.wikimedia.org/wiki/GLAM
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