This presentation will share with the conference what we’ve discovered
about the importance of the number of Wikipedia pages in a language in
getting better services for that language from big companies. I’ll show
slides mapping the languages supported by Google, Twitter, Apple, etc.
against both number of speakers and number of Wikipedia articles in
languages to show how much importance major companies attach to creative
activity on Wikipedia. I’ll explain how this information has led to
Welsh Government helping to fund two Welsh-language Wikipedia
initiatives called WiciPop and WiciMôn and how we wanted to strike a
balance between the need to scale up article production with the need to
encourage more people to hand-craft articles in workshops. I’ll compare
this activity with that of the Papurau Bro – Welsh-language community
magazines – which have brought people together to fold and staple
editions in chapel vestries since the 1970s. And I’ll argue that
including a link to a Wikipedia article started by a school pupil is an
asset for their personal statement and CV. So this isn’t an academic
paper I’m presenting; it’s a passionate account of a public intervention
aimed at solving a lot of challenges at the same time.
Gareth Morlais,
Welsh Language Unit, Llywodraeth Cymru - Welsh Government.
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