Fueling Volunteer Growth: the case of Wikipedia Administrators

TL;DR

The paper examines Wikipedia administrator dynamics across 284 language editions from 2018 onward using public logs, surveys of over 2,000 admins and 1,200 potential admins, and 12 interviews. It identifies a two-sided pattern: many languages maintain or grow admin rosters, while the largest, highly active Wikipedias show declining admin numbers driven primarily by insufficient recruitment rather than attrition. The authors document barriers to recruitment, including limited awareness, opaque or stressful candidacy processes, and unwritten norms, and they reveal administrators’ strong intrinsic motivation and engagement. The work offers concrete design and policy recommendations to strengthen recruitment pipelines, increase visibility of admin work, and support cross-language learning, with implications for sustaining governance in open knowledge platforms.

Abstract

Wikipedia administrators are vital to the platform's success, performing over a million administrative actions annually. This multi-method study systematically analyzes adminship across 284 Wikipedia languages since 2018, revealing a critical two-sided trend: while over half of all Wikipedias show a net increase in administrators, almost two-thirds of highly active Wikipedias face decline. Our analysis, drawing from large-scale adminship log analysis, over 3000 surveys, and 12 interviews, reveals this decline is primarily driven by insufficient recruitment, not unusual attrition. We identify key barriers for potential administrators, including limited awareness, ambiguous requirements, a demanding selection process, and low initial interest. Recognizing that current administrators remain highly motivated and engaged, we propose actionable recommendations to strengthen recruitment pipelines and fuel Wikipedia administrator growth, crucial for Wikipedia's long-term sustainability.

Figures (13)

• Figure 1: Per year average monthly active admins for the 21 shortlisted Wikipedias for years 2018 to 2025, ordered by net change ($\Delta$). Wikipedias with negative change are highlighted by a blue box. We plot yearly timepoints (i.e., the mean of monthly active admins across the calendar year) to avoid the effects of seasonality mittermeier2019season. Specifically, we utilize means rather than raw monthly values--which vary due to both seasonality and idiosyncratic current events--that could give the impression of a decline when it is actually due to regression towards-the-(yearly) mean barnett2005regression.
• Figure 2: Yearly admin inflow (admin right granted; recruited) and outflow (admin right removed; departed) across the 14 very active Wikipedias with an overall decline between 2018 and 2024 (See Figure \ref{['fig:active-admins-over-time']}). Trend lines are added to assist with visualizing the change in inflow and outflow across multiple years.
• Figure 3: How familiar potential Wikipedia administrators (those that meet the formal requirements for adminship candidacy on their respective projects) are with different aspects of Wikipedia adminship. From a survey of potential English, Spanish, French, Indonesian, Polish, and Russian Wikipedia administrators. Sample proportion estimates are shown with 95% confidence intervals.
• Figure 4: Self-reported prospective interest in adminship by potential Wikipedia administrators. From a survey of potential English, Spanish, French, Indonesian, Polish, and Russian Wikipedia administrators. Sample proportion estimates are shown with 95% confidence intervals.
• Figure 5: How difficult current Wikipedia administrators found three different aspects of the Request for Adminship (RFA) process on their projects. From a survey of current English, Spanish, French, Indonesian, Polish, and Russian Wikipedia administrators. Sample proportion estimates are shown with 95% confidence intervals.