the distribution of the different clusters, we would be able to identify groups of languages following different patterns and phases of growth, decline and stagnation.
3.1.2. Phase 2: Design and Implementation
In this second phase, we designed the indicators to capture each of the aspects related to community renewal and growth we found valuable during the exploration phase (retention, stability, balance, special functions, administrators, and global) to reach [O2]. To do so, we bore in mind three different design principles: (1) following established community definitions, (2) keeping it simple and designing one or two indicators for each aspect, (3) being consistent across the different metric representations to facilitate interpretation.
Then, we proceeded with the data analysis through a visual analytics library tool. We implemented prior versions of a dashboard and compared different visualizations for each aspect. From a quick interpretation of the graphs, we estimated an initial potential “target value” for each of the indicators that we considered a good baseline for a healthy community in the process of renewing or growing. These “target values” would facilitate the interpretation of the graphs and would need to be validated by communities.
The design and analysis subphases were repeated on five different occasions for specific groups of languages. We identified the main Wikimedia conferences where we would be able to interact with Wikipedians. These are: Wikiindaba (African languages) (Meta contributors, ’WikiIndaba conference 2021’, Meta, discussion about Wikimedia projects, 1 January 2022, 11:22 UTC, https://meta.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=WikiIndaba_conference_2021&oldid=22522029 [accessed 19 February 2022]). Wikimedia CEE (Central and Eastern European languages) (Meta contributors, ’Wikimedia CEE Online Meeting 2021’, Meta, discussion about Wikimedia projects, 7 November 2021, 15:31 UTC, https://meta.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=Wikimedia_CEE_Online_Meeting_2021&oldid=22306903 [accessed 19 February 2022]). WikiArabia (Arabic languages) (Meta contributors, ’WikiArabia/2021’, Meta, discussion about Wikimedia projects, 5 January 2022, 11:52 UTC, https://meta.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=WikiArabia/2021&oldid=22538058 [accessed 19 February 2022]). and the Viquitrobada (Catalan Wikipedia gathering) (Wikipedia collaborators, ’Viquiprojecte:Viquitrobada 2021’, Viquipèdia, 21 November 2021, 18:35 UTC, https://ca.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Viquiprojecte:Viquitrobada_2021&oldid=28637677 [accessed 19 February 2022]). We also performed an in-depth analysis for Wikimedia Poland and Wikimedia Italy, which were previously interested in understanding the potential risks for community dissolution, particularly for certain profiles of editors from the active community (i.e., coordinators and technical editors).
In the analysis of these groups of languages, we would acknowledge that even though there exist 308 language editions, those language communities under 50 active editors would not show applicable results since their situation would be too irregular to consider a pattern of growth or renewal. For the sake of simplicity, in this study, we will limit the graphs to a reduced number of eight languages selected among those with which we received feedback and reflective of the different active community sizes. These can be classified into four groups: communities containing more than 10, 000 active editors (English (English Wikipedia website, https://en.wikipedia.org/ [accessed 19 February 2022].), more than 5000 (German (German Wikipedia website, https://de.wikipedia.org/ [accessed 19 February 2022]). Italian (Italian Wikipedia website, https://it.wikipedia.org/ [accessed 19 February 2022]). Arabic (Arabic Wikipedia website, https://ar.wikipedia.org/ [accessed 19 February 2022]). and Polish (Polish Wikipedia website, https://pl.wikipedia. org/ [accessed 19 February 2022].), more than 500 (Catalan (Catalan Wikipedia website, https://ca.wikipedia.org/ [accessed 19 February 2022]), and more than 50 (Afrikaans (Afrikaans Wikipedia website, https://af.wikipedia.org/ [accessed 19 February 2022]). and Swahili (Swahili Wikipedia website, https://sw.wikipedia.org/ [accessed 19 February 2022]). These languages also reflect geographical diversity, and, at the same time, they have achieved a minimal critical mass in the number of active editors.
