The document discusses visualizing discussions on Wikipedia about deleting pages. It analyzes data from 108,634 deletion discussions (AfDs) to understand their dynamics. Key findings include: 1) AfDs ranged widely in duration from less than a day to over a year; 2) There was no correlation between duration and number of votes, resulting in a broad range of activity rates; 3) On average, the number of votes grew with duration until around 10 days, suggesting most discussions reach consensus within this time frame. The diversity of activity rates indicates the perceived importance of topics may influence discussion length and outcomes.

1. NOTABILIA
Visualizing deletion discussions on Wikipedia
Moritz Stefaner // this happened Hamburg // March 11, 2011

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discussion, but a strong cascading effect could also not be
104 2.0 excluded (see below). Conversely, in other cases consensus
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can be hard to reach and the discussion may drag for longer
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of accrued in that period results also
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101 Duration (days)
1 month
in a broad distribution of activity rates, as shown in Figure 3
1 week
1 hour
1 year
1 day
"! Figure 4:(bottom), distinct options voteduse as a function to plot the density
Number of where again we for log binning
100 0 of the duration of AfDsrates. This diversity suggests that the perceived
50 of activity (in days.) 50
10 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109
Duration (sec) Delete Keep
40 importance of the topic of an AfD might play a role in deter-
40
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sample size N = 108, 634 ning to plot the density dynamics of and of activity rates Expected
mining Expected duration collective attention it receives from
the of the
105 30 30
! "! #! $! %! of AfD discussions. Wikipedia policies suggest toas a possible consequence,
the community of editors, and, keep an
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&'(')*+,-./! AfD discussion open at 10
20 its outcome. least for seven days, and this is
Further close to the 20 clearly needed to assess
clearly shown by the drop in density
research is of
value
104 10 this (s) = 1 (week) in type of (upper). However,
aspect of this Figure 3 deliberation tasks.
10
Figure 2: AfD trajectories and their outcomes. Each line T = 604, 800
represents the cumulative number of Keeps and Deletes at whenever consensus is reached beforehand, it is customary
0 0
103 any given step of the sequence. Color codes the outcome for admins to close the20
0 10 discussion and enforce the decision 10
30 40 50 0 20 30 40 50
of the AfD. Orange: AfD that resulted in the page being 5 Herding effects the hypothesis (p = 50) that
immediately. A t-test rejects
deleted; Purple: page kept, redirected or merged. The circle the number of options voted for in AfDs shorterwouldday Redirect
A totally unbiased discussion than 1 require voters’ prefer-
Merge
102 is equal4to that of longer AfDs. Moreover, Figure 4 shows
4
indicates one AfD sequence that ends off the plot. ences this be homogeneous and thatofeach voter is not influ-
to number grows with the duration the Expected
that, on average, Expected
vote approximately until T votes (days). This can3by the
3 enced by the
= 10 already cast be other voters. This is
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105 symptomequivalent to say that votesthe AfD under
2 of the non-controversial nature of cast 2 by AfD participants form
discussion, but a strong cascading effect could the probability of choosing an
sequences of IID draws where also1not be
100 −8 104 excluded (see below). Conversely, in other cases consensus
1
10 10−7 10−6 10−5 10−4 10−3 can be hard to reach and the discussion may drag for longer
9
activity rate (votes/day) 0
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Deletion_ 40
periods:0some AfDs in the dataset have40
10 20 30 50
0
been closed after one 10
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103
policy
year of discussion. size N
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Figure 3: (upper) AfD duration as a function of their length;
102
All open AfD discussions are listed in a single page. To our
(bottom) Distribution All activity rates for AfD lasting more absence of correlations between the informalofsurvey this and the personal
of Keep The knowledge and from our duration an AfD
than 24h; 101 Figure distribution ofAfD discussions. only Figure used by editors to keep
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5: ofExpectedrates, asperiod in tools 3 as a function
and the number 1.0 votes accrued in are the
of that of votes Delete of A
1 month
track new activity
in a broad shown
1 week
1 hour
1 year
1 day
100 0
lengthwhere. 0.8Each sub-plotto displays the Keep
(bottom), N again we use log binning plot the density number of votes
Merge
101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 of activity rates. This diversity suggests that the perceived
of type ofothefor AfD of size a role(circles). Redirect solid lines
Red
10
Duration (sec) importance topic of an AfD might play N in deter-
5 the dynamics of collective attention it receives from
105
sample size N = 108, 634
thecommunity of editors, and, as aIID model with baseline probabilit
mining
linear 0.6 with an possible consequence,
fit
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Error barsFurtherof deliberation tasks.needed to assess of the mean.
its outcome.10 representis clearly
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http://nodebox.net/

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15. KEPT/ME

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KEPT/MERGED/REDIRECTED