Comparing the usage of global and local Wikipedias with focus on Swedish Wikipedia

TL;DR

This study investigates how and why non-English speakers prefer the English Wikipedia over their local language versions, analyzing access and edit patterns across major Wikipedias including Swedish Wikipedia.

Contribution

It provides a comparative analysis of usage patterns between Swedish Wikipedia and other major Wikipedias, focusing on the preference for English Wikipedia among non-English communities.

Findings

Non-English speakers frequently access English Wikipedia.

Swedish Wikipedia has lower usage compared to English Wikipedia.

Patterns vary based on article topics and user engagement.

Abstract

This report summarizes the results of a short-term student research project focused on the usage of Swedish Wikipedia. It is trying to answer the following question: To what extent (and why) do people from non-English language communities use the English Wikipedia instead of the one in their local language? Article access time series and article edit time series from major Wikipedias including Swedish Wikipedia are analyzed with various tools.