What and how users read: Transforming reading behavior into valuable feedback for the Wikipedia community

Müller-Birn Claudia
Müller-Birn ClaudiaAssistant Professor at Freie Universität Berlin
What and how users read:
Transforming reading preferences and behavior into
valuable feedback for the Wikipedia community
Wikimania 2014 | August 8, 2014 | Track: Wikimedia Inspiration
Claudia Müller-Birn & Janette Lehmann!
photo credit: marissa, CC BY 2.0
We know YOU!
2photo credit: philosophygeek CC BY-SA 2.0
3
Included research papers: 477
Criteria of inclusion: Often cited
Included years: 2003 - 2012
Number of groups: 6
Sources: English-language databases, peer-reviewed journal articles, doctoral theses
Visualizationisbasedon(Okolietal.,2012)
4
Included research papers: 477
Criteria of inclusion: Often cited
Included years: 2003 - 2012
Number of groups: 6
Sources: English-language databases, peer-reviewed journal articles, doctoral theses
Visualizationisbasedon(Okolietal.,2012)
‣ Second-class members of an
online community (Preece et al. 2004)
‣ “Lurkers” or “free-riders” 

(e.g., Nonnecke, 2000, Nonnecke, 2004)
‣ More resource-taking than value-
adding(Kollock, 1990)
‣ Only valuable when they become
active contributors (Preece et al. 2004)
5
photo credit:
claudia müller-birn, CC BY 2.0
Why might it be useful to
know your readers better?!
6
Why might it be useful to
know your readers better?!
7
As a user, I have a better reading experience, so I return more often,
and eventually become a contributor.
As an editor, I can use reading time 

as an additional measure for article quality.
As an author, I feel that my work is more valuable
when an increasing number of readers access “my” articles.
As an interface designer, I can adapt the article presentation
by considering the exploration reading pattern.
…
Let’s make the first step!
8photo credit: DonToofee CC BY-SA 2.0
9
(1)We studied people’s reading preferences,
i.e. what they read.
!
!
Reading preferences
10
Biography
Entertainment
List
Tech
History
Misc
Health
Leisure
Sport
Places
Adult
Culture/Belief
0 0.125 0.25 0.375 0.5
2.6%
2.6%
2.8%
3%
3.2%
3.4%
3.8%
4.4%
5%
7.6%
17.4%
44.2%
11
(1)Does an article’s popularity change over
time?
!
!
people’s reading preferences
Three patterns of readers’ interests
12
2011-09 2011-12 2012-03 2012-06 2012-09
One direction
Proportion of users
0
0.0020
Constant interest!
!
‣ Regularly accessed articles, sometimes
only for fact finding
‣ Examples: Albert Einstein, Facebook, IMDB
Peak interest!
!
‣ Death of people, game and movie releases
‣ Examples: Whitney Houston, The Hunger
Games, 2012 Phenomenon
Increasing/decreasing interest!
!
‣ Items that became popular/loose popularity
during our observation period
‣ Examples: One direction, Instagram
13
14
(1)Does an article’s popularity change over
time?
!
(2)Do readers interests relate to editors
preferences?
✔
people’s reading preferences
15
Preference matrix
16
17
(1)We studied people’s reading preferences,
i.e. what they read.
!
(2)We analyzed people’s reading behaviors, 

i.e. how they read.
✔
Example of a reading session on Wikipedia
18
0.5min 1.8min 2min
Session statistics
article views: 3
session articles: 5
reading time: 4.3min
session
starts
session
ends
time
Two exemplary reading patterns
19
Focus Exploration
!
!
Article Views ~ ↑↑
Reading Time ↑ ~
Session Articles ↓↓ ↑↑
~ on average
↓ little below average ↑ little above average
↓↓ well below average ↑↑ far above average
-1.0
0.5
-0.5
0.0
1.0
-1.0
0.5
-0.5
0.0
1.0
Explicit feedback
with the AFT
20
Implicit feedback
with reading behavior
Readers
give
suggestions
Readers
read
articles
Editors
make
improvements
Graphic created by Fabrice Florin, CC BY-SA 3.0
Wrapping up
‣ Data on readers are already available, but their
potential has not being fully exploited
‣ Reading behavior provides an alternative way to think
about readers but an application is not available yet
21photo credit: marissa, CC BY 2.0
!
Many thanks to the co-authors of our research paper:
David Laniado, Mounia Lalmas, Andreas Kaltenbrunner
!
For more information:
http://janette-lehmann.de/docs/pub2014_ht.pdf
Thank you.
22These slides are licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license.
Check out the review by Piotr on Wikimedia Research Newsletter (vol 4, issue 7, July 2014)
References
‣ C. Okoli, M. Mehdi, M. Mesgari, F. Å. Nielsen, and A. Lanamäki. The People’s Encyclopedia Under the
Gaze of the Sages: A Systematic Review of Scholarly Research on Wikipedia. http://ssrn.com/
abstract=2021326, 2012.
‣ J. Preece, B. Nonnecke, and D. Andrews. The top five reasons for lurking: improving community
experiences for everyone. Comp. in Human Behavior, 20(2), 2004.
‣ B. Nonnecke and J. Preece. Lurker demographics: counting the silent. In Proc. CHI (2000).
‣ B. Nonnecke, J. Preece and D. Andrews. What lurkers and posters think of each other. In Proc. HICSS
(2004).
‣ P. Kollock. The economies of online cooperation: Gifts and public goods in cyberspace. In Communities
in Cyberspace, pages 220–239. Routledge, 1990.
23These slides are licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license.
1 of 23

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What and how users read: Transforming reading behavior into valuable feedback for the Wikipedia community

  • 1. What and how users read: Transforming reading preferences and behavior into valuable feedback for the Wikipedia community Wikimania 2014 | August 8, 2014 | Track: Wikimedia Inspiration Claudia Müller-Birn & Janette Lehmann! photo credit: marissa, CC BY 2.0
  • 2. We know YOU! 2photo credit: philosophygeek CC BY-SA 2.0
  • 3. 3 Included research papers: 477 Criteria of inclusion: Often cited Included years: 2003 - 2012 Number of groups: 6 Sources: English-language databases, peer-reviewed journal articles, doctoral theses Visualizationisbasedon(Okolietal.,2012)
  • 4. 4 Included research papers: 477 Criteria of inclusion: Often cited Included years: 2003 - 2012 Number of groups: 6 Sources: English-language databases, peer-reviewed journal articles, doctoral theses Visualizationisbasedon(Okolietal.,2012)
  • 5. ‣ Second-class members of an online community (Preece et al. 2004) ‣ “Lurkers” or “free-riders” 
 (e.g., Nonnecke, 2000, Nonnecke, 2004) ‣ More resource-taking than value- adding(Kollock, 1990) ‣ Only valuable when they become active contributors (Preece et al. 2004) 5 photo credit: claudia müller-birn, CC BY 2.0
  • 6. Why might it be useful to know your readers better?! 6
  • 7. Why might it be useful to know your readers better?! 7 As a user, I have a better reading experience, so I return more often, and eventually become a contributor. As an editor, I can use reading time 
 as an additional measure for article quality. As an author, I feel that my work is more valuable when an increasing number of readers access “my” articles. As an interface designer, I can adapt the article presentation by considering the exploration reading pattern. …
  • 8. Let’s make the first step! 8photo credit: DonToofee CC BY-SA 2.0
  • 9. 9 (1)We studied people’s reading preferences, i.e. what they read. ! !
  • 11. 11 (1)Does an article’s popularity change over time? ! ! people’s reading preferences
  • 12. Three patterns of readers’ interests 12 2011-09 2011-12 2012-03 2012-06 2012-09 One direction Proportion of users 0 0.0020 Constant interest! ! ‣ Regularly accessed articles, sometimes only for fact finding ‣ Examples: Albert Einstein, Facebook, IMDB Peak interest! ! ‣ Death of people, game and movie releases ‣ Examples: Whitney Houston, The Hunger Games, 2012 Phenomenon Increasing/decreasing interest! ! ‣ Items that became popular/loose popularity during our observation period ‣ Examples: One direction, Instagram
  • 13. 13
  • 14. 14 (1)Does an article’s popularity change over time? ! (2)Do readers interests relate to editors preferences? ✔ people’s reading preferences
  • 16. 16
  • 17. 17 (1)We studied people’s reading preferences, i.e. what they read. ! (2)We analyzed people’s reading behaviors, 
 i.e. how they read. ✔
  • 18. Example of a reading session on Wikipedia 18 0.5min 1.8min 2min Session statistics article views: 3 session articles: 5 reading time: 4.3min session starts session ends time
  • 19. Two exemplary reading patterns 19 Focus Exploration ! ! Article Views ~ ↑↑ Reading Time ↑ ~ Session Articles ↓↓ ↑↑ ~ on average ↓ little below average ↑ little above average ↓↓ well below average ↑↑ far above average -1.0 0.5 -0.5 0.0 1.0 -1.0 0.5 -0.5 0.0 1.0
  • 20. Explicit feedback with the AFT 20 Implicit feedback with reading behavior Readers give suggestions Readers read articles Editors make improvements Graphic created by Fabrice Florin, CC BY-SA 3.0
  • 21. Wrapping up ‣ Data on readers are already available, but their potential has not being fully exploited ‣ Reading behavior provides an alternative way to think about readers but an application is not available yet 21photo credit: marissa, CC BY 2.0
  • 22. ! Many thanks to the co-authors of our research paper: David Laniado, Mounia Lalmas, Andreas Kaltenbrunner ! For more information: http://janette-lehmann.de/docs/pub2014_ht.pdf Thank you. 22These slides are licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license. Check out the review by Piotr on Wikimedia Research Newsletter (vol 4, issue 7, July 2014)
  • 23. References ‣ C. Okoli, M. Mehdi, M. Mesgari, F. Å. Nielsen, and A. Lanamäki. The People’s Encyclopedia Under the Gaze of the Sages: A Systematic Review of Scholarly Research on Wikipedia. http://ssrn.com/ abstract=2021326, 2012. ‣ J. Preece, B. Nonnecke, and D. Andrews. The top five reasons for lurking: improving community experiences for everyone. Comp. in Human Behavior, 20(2), 2004. ‣ B. Nonnecke and J. Preece. Lurker demographics: counting the silent. In Proc. CHI (2000). ‣ B. Nonnecke, J. Preece and D. Andrews. What lurkers and posters think of each other. In Proc. HICSS (2004). ‣ P. Kollock. The economies of online cooperation: Gifts and public goods in cyberspace. In Communities in Cyberspace, pages 220–239. Routledge, 1990. 23These slides are licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license.