Understanding Wikimedia audiences in the United Kingdom to achieve knowledge equity

Methodology

  • 15 minute online survey
  • Fieldwork dates: 17th-23th June 2022
  • Sampled to be representative of the UK online population on age, gender 
  • Age 18+
  • 500 respondents representative of the UK Population on age and gender
  • 1000 Boost interviews amongst Ethnic Minorities

Key Insights

  • Overall, Wikipedia enjoys good awareness and usage
  • Wikipedia has a youth issue in Japan
  • The Black community, especially Black women, are disengaged
  • LGBTQ community feel less represented, especially those who are non-white
  • Overall women are generally positive, but have low usage and feel less represented
  • Gen Z are less likely to be engaged vs. older groups

Usage and Awareness

  • Younger audiences, and men, less aware of Wikipedia
  • British women use Wikipedia less, with lower usage also among Black British
  • Brits overall want more cooking content, with specific topic areas desired per community
  • Young people more likely to not use because it doesn’t represent them, LGBTQ want different experience

Perception and Representation

  • Black/ mixed ethnicity men feel more represented in UK media vs. Wikipedia
  • British people generally feel there are right amount of articles for each community
  • Black men and women least trusting that Wikipedia articles are fair & representative
  • LGBTQ non-white community has more negative perceptions of Wikipedia, older people more positive

Editing

  • Strong interest in editing, especially among younger people – Wikipedia should be leveraging this interest
  • Interest driven by a passion for writing and sharing of knowledge
  • A lack of skill and time the greatest barriers to editing on Wikipedia

Help us unlock the world’s knowledge.

As a nonprofit, Wikipedia and our related free knowledge projects are powered primarily through donations.

Donate now

200,000+

Editors contribute to Wikimedia projects every month

68+ million

Media files on Wikimedia Commons

1+ billion

Unique devices access Wikimedia projects every month

Contact us

Questions about the Wikimedia Foundation or our projects? Get in touch with our team.
Contact

O valor da Wikipédia na era da IA generativa

Se houvesse um sistema de inteligência artificial generativa que pudesse escrever, por conta própria, todas as informações contidas na Wikipédia, seria igual à Wikipédia que temos hoje?

Read more

Ahead of UN General Assembly, Wikipedia nonprofit calls on governments to ensure the future internet is shaped by communities for the public interest

21 September 2024, New York USA ― As UN Member States are gathering in New York for the 79th United Nations General Assembly, the Wikimedia Foundation, the nonprofit that hosts Wikipedia and other Wikimedia projects, is calling on governments and the UN to ensure that stakeholders from all sectors can work together in deciding how….

Read more

Photo credits