User:Loopy30/Editathons fail

I have run several editathons with over a hundred new editors, and none of them continued as an active editor. A very few lasted for a few weeks but then they gave up or were blocked for COI edits, despite continued assistance from me.

They were all keen to learn, and the hosting location was great. We had no significant problems with account creation, internet connection, or learning the markup/visual editor. We often had great lunches provided as well. But none of them ever became a continuing editor.

I encouraged them to avoid creating new articles, especially BLPs - see WP:NOF1. But many of them wanted to do that anyways. I cautioned them about a writing about a subject that they were too closely connected with, but that was the reason many came out in the first place. Several were more interested in righting great wrongs than in adding knowledge to the encyclopedia.

This experience is similar to that of a 2016 OpEd in The Signpost that lamented the long- (and short-) term ineffectiveness of editathons as a recruiting tool. A followup in 2017 continued the theme. Be sure to read the comments below the OpEds as well.

I am convinced that the type of people who like the idea of contributing to Wikipedia, but are who are not willing (or more perhaps accurately; not capable) of learning how to edit on their own, are not the type of people that are ever likely to continue as Wikipedia editors after an editathon has finished.