Operator: Nettrom ( talk · contribs)
Automatic: Specify whether supervised or unsupervised --> Automatic or Manually assisted: Automatic, supervised
Programming language(s): Perl, Python (with pywikibot), SQL
Source code available: Currently not
Function overview: Post suggestions to a limited number of new users in research project
Links to relevant discussions (where appropriate):
Edit period(s): daily, over a period of eight weeks
Estimated number of pages affected: 500
Exclusion compliant (Y/N): Y
Already has a bot flag (Y/N): Y
Function details: SuggestBot already posts suggestions to talk pages of users who have requested to get them. As part of a research study, we want to post a suggestions to a limited number of new users in order to see if we can make them contribute more than they otherwise would. Through statistic analysis of en-WP data we have identified some criteria which we think identify the more prolific users, and now want to test our hypothesis with an experiment. We will not post suggestions to users who have been warned or banned for vandalistic edits, or similar actions. Unless the users in the experiment specifically ask for regular suggestions, they will only have received a one-time posting on their user talk page.
I'd just like to point out that SuggestBot has already been the subject of two published research articles. The first is "SuggestBot: Using Intelligent Task Routing to Help People Find Work in Wikipedia" from 2007, and the second is "The Diffusion of a Task Recommendation System to Facilitate Contributions to an Online Community." from 2009. Nettrom ( talk) 20:37, 11 June 2010 (UTC) reply
More importantly, I'd also like to point out that I have made a similar request on Norwegian Wikipedia, as we would like to run a parallel study across both language versions of Wikipedia, also using SuggestBot's Norwegian sister bot AnbefalingsBot. If you read Norwegian, the request and its discussion is here (if needed I can summarise it). Cross-language Wikipedia research like this is currently rare, which is one of the motivations for this study. Nettrom ( talk) 13:26, 12 June 2010 (UTC) reply
{{
welcome-coi}}
.
Gigs (
talk)
02:58, 14 June 2010 (UTC)
reply
This request sounds reasonable and low-risk for editors. I have some general concerns about this process but I'll post them elsewhere so as not to derail this discussion. ElKevbo ( talk) 22:13, 19 June 2010 (UTC) reply
Update 2010-06-29: After having revisited our statistics and calculations for the size of the study, we have found it necessary to increase our size to about 500 users, and increase the experiment period to eight weeks (we originally planned for four). Revisiting the numbers I posted on June 25, the time extensions cuts the percentages in half, thus we'll be reaching less than one percent of either user base, meaning we're still leaving most Wikipedians alone.
Unless there are concerns raised, I will commence a 50-user trial as soon as possible. We're currently fixing a data gathering bug in SuggestBot and should have that resolved in a couple of days. Nettrom ( talk) 18:13, 29 June 2010 (UTC) reply
Suggestions: One of the concerns raised about the process outlined in Wikipedia:Subject Recruitment Approvals Group and Wikipedia:Research was the potential annoyance factor of making uninvited requests for assistance to a volunteer group who are often already quite stretched. Using SuggestBot as a means of recruiting research subjects is a good idea, as people who receive SuggestBot have already opted in for suggestions on how they might further assist Wikipedia. I see this a good way forward.
Trial complete.
Update 2010-07-07: We've now completed the 50-user trial. See SuggestBot's contribution history, edits starting from 16:05 on July 2 to 11:23 on July 7, with the exception of User talk:Sillybillypiggy, User talk:Birdy god, and User talk:White Shadows, which were all regular requests for suggestions posted on User:SuggestBot/Requests and thus use a different template. Cheers, Nettrom ( talk) 16:42, 7 July 2010 (UTC) reply
{{
BAGAssistanceNeeded}}
Update 2010-07-19: I'd appreciate some response on this request from a BAG member at this point. Before the trial started we also approached the Welcoming committee members to notify them of our intentions. Neither there nor here (nor from the WP:Research crowd) have we seen any strong opposition from the community, and if there are any issues that the BAG members think haven't been discussed or some actions we haven't taken, I'd appreciate getting to know about them so I can work on it. Cheers, Nettrom ( talk) 15:48, 19 July 2010 (UTC) reply
Operator: Nettrom ( talk · contribs)
Automatic: Specify whether supervised or unsupervised --> Automatic or Manually assisted: Automatic, supervised
Programming language(s): Perl, Python (with pywikibot), SQL
Source code available: Currently not
Function overview: Post suggestions to a limited number of new users in research project
Links to relevant discussions (where appropriate):
Edit period(s): daily, over a period of eight weeks
Estimated number of pages affected: 500
Exclusion compliant (Y/N): Y
Already has a bot flag (Y/N): Y
Function details: SuggestBot already posts suggestions to talk pages of users who have requested to get them. As part of a research study, we want to post a suggestions to a limited number of new users in order to see if we can make them contribute more than they otherwise would. Through statistic analysis of en-WP data we have identified some criteria which we think identify the more prolific users, and now want to test our hypothesis with an experiment. We will not post suggestions to users who have been warned or banned for vandalistic edits, or similar actions. Unless the users in the experiment specifically ask for regular suggestions, they will only have received a one-time posting on their user talk page.
I'd just like to point out that SuggestBot has already been the subject of two published research articles. The first is "SuggestBot: Using Intelligent Task Routing to Help People Find Work in Wikipedia" from 2007, and the second is "The Diffusion of a Task Recommendation System to Facilitate Contributions to an Online Community." from 2009. Nettrom ( talk) 20:37, 11 June 2010 (UTC) reply
More importantly, I'd also like to point out that I have made a similar request on Norwegian Wikipedia, as we would like to run a parallel study across both language versions of Wikipedia, also using SuggestBot's Norwegian sister bot AnbefalingsBot. If you read Norwegian, the request and its discussion is here (if needed I can summarise it). Cross-language Wikipedia research like this is currently rare, which is one of the motivations for this study. Nettrom ( talk) 13:26, 12 June 2010 (UTC) reply
{{
welcome-coi}}
.
Gigs (
talk)
02:58, 14 June 2010 (UTC)
reply
This request sounds reasonable and low-risk for editors. I have some general concerns about this process but I'll post them elsewhere so as not to derail this discussion. ElKevbo ( talk) 22:13, 19 June 2010 (UTC) reply
Update 2010-06-29: After having revisited our statistics and calculations for the size of the study, we have found it necessary to increase our size to about 500 users, and increase the experiment period to eight weeks (we originally planned for four). Revisiting the numbers I posted on June 25, the time extensions cuts the percentages in half, thus we'll be reaching less than one percent of either user base, meaning we're still leaving most Wikipedians alone.
Unless there are concerns raised, I will commence a 50-user trial as soon as possible. We're currently fixing a data gathering bug in SuggestBot and should have that resolved in a couple of days. Nettrom ( talk) 18:13, 29 June 2010 (UTC) reply
Suggestions: One of the concerns raised about the process outlined in Wikipedia:Subject Recruitment Approvals Group and Wikipedia:Research was the potential annoyance factor of making uninvited requests for assistance to a volunteer group who are often already quite stretched. Using SuggestBot as a means of recruiting research subjects is a good idea, as people who receive SuggestBot have already opted in for suggestions on how they might further assist Wikipedia. I see this a good way forward.
Trial complete.
Update 2010-07-07: We've now completed the 50-user trial. See SuggestBot's contribution history, edits starting from 16:05 on July 2 to 11:23 on July 7, with the exception of User talk:Sillybillypiggy, User talk:Birdy god, and User talk:White Shadows, which were all regular requests for suggestions posted on User:SuggestBot/Requests and thus use a different template. Cheers, Nettrom ( talk) 16:42, 7 July 2010 (UTC) reply
{{
BAGAssistanceNeeded}}
Update 2010-07-19: I'd appreciate some response on this request from a BAG member at this point. Before the trial started we also approached the Welcoming committee members to notify them of our intentions. Neither there nor here (nor from the WP:Research crowd) have we seen any strong opposition from the community, and if there are any issues that the BAG members think haven't been discussed or some actions we haven't taken, I'd appreciate getting to know about them so I can work on it. Cheers, Nettrom ( talk) 15:48, 19 July 2010 (UTC) reply