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 | This page in a nutshell: Participants on dramaboards may not be representative of the community |
The observation
editOne can easily notice that there exists a relatively small number of noticeboards/RfCs frequenters who can be easily found to attend any other drama. They constitute a tiny minority of all Wikipedia users, and even a minority by activity. Of course, different users can be found in crowded venues. But where will a good content contributor spend most of his/her time? Where will a good technician spend most of his/her time?
Now the reader can infer what does the majority of a sub-community of teahouses/noticeboars/RfCs frequenters constitute, the sub-community henceforth referred to as the Crowd People. Others may refer to them as the Dramaboards Regulars.
It also means that Another Wikipedia is persistently under-represented. The discrimination against Another Wikipedia is particularly detrimental on RfA or other elections. For most members of the Crowd People work with content doesn’t matter. Technical skills don’t matter too. Any knowledge of guidelines also doesn’t matter. The only thing that does matter is how is the candidate loyal to the Crowd People, or some of its faction that promotes him/her. And friendship with the Crowd People really helps, because most of other, busy Wikipedians cannot do much: they are simply unaware of most of discussions.
Possible responses
editThe observation above was made in 2013. The Wikipedia community has changed since then. An original proposed solution can be found in the history.