User:Halfak (WMF)/Archived

Aaron Halfaker, Science Man

Aaron Halfaker

Research Scientist, Wikimedia Foundation

Think big. Measure what you can. Build better technologies.

About me

Hi. I'm Aaron Halfaker. I'm a scientist. See my publications. I've been a Wikipedian since 2008. I mostly build tools and run studies, but I make edits where I can. In 2011, I started working with the Wikimedia Foundation as a researcher. See my volunteer account, User:EpochFail, for my non-staff work.

My work

I use the scientific method to explore the structure and function of Wikipedia. My goal is to identify problems/opportunities and to use this knowledge to improve/extend the software. See The Rise and Decline for an example of my research and m:R:Revision scoring as a service for an example of an experimental software project.

Disclaimer: I work for or provide services to the Wikimedia Foundation, and this is the account I try to use for edits or statements I make in that role. However, the Foundation does not vet all my activity, and edits, statements, or other contributions made by this account may not reflect the views of the Foundation.

Contact

* E-mail: ahalfakerwikimedia.org

• Website: http://halfaker.info
• Twitter: http://twitter.com/halfak
• On IRC, I go by "halfak".

Publications

Peer reviewed

• Halfaker, A., Keyes, O., Kluver, D., Thebault-Spieker, J., Nguyen, T., Shores, K., Uduwage, A., Warncke-Wang, M. (2015). User Session Identification Based on Strong Regularities in Inter-activity Time, WWW'15. ACM. pdf)
• Schneider, J., Gelley, B., Halfaker, A. (2014). Accept, decline, postpone: How newcomer productivity is reduced in English Wikipedia by pre-publication review, OpenSym'14. ACM. (pdf)
• Halfaker, A., Geiger, R.S., & Terveen, L. (2014). Snuggle: Designing for Efficient Socialization and Ideological Critique CHI'14. ACM. (pdf)
• Geiger, R.S., & Halfaker, A. (2013). When the Levee Breaks: Without Bots, What Happens to Wikipedia’s Quality Control Processes? WikiSym'13. ACM. (pdf)
• Halfaker, A., Keyes, O., & Taraborelli, D. (2013). Making peripheral participation legitimate: Reader engagement experiments in Wikipedia CSCW'13. (pdf)
• Geiger, R. S. & Halfaker, A. (2013). Using Edit Session to Measure Participation in Wikipedia CSCW'13. ACM. (pdf)
• Halfaker, A., Geiger, R. S., Morgan, J., & Riedl, J. (2013). The Rise and Decline of an Open Collaboration System: How Wikipedia's reaction to sudden popularity is causing its decline. American Behavioral Scientist. (pdf)
• Geiger, R. S., Halfaker, A., Pinchuk, M., & Walling, S. (2012). Defense Mechanism or Socialization Tactic? Improving Wikipedia’s Notifications to Rejected Contributors. ICWSM’12. (pdf)
• Halfaker, A., Kittur, A., & Riedl, J. (2011). Don't Bite the Newbies: How Reverts Affect the Quantity and Quality of Wikipedia Work, WikiSym’11. ACM. (pdf)
• Halfaker, A., Song, B., Stuart, D. A., Kittur, A., & Riedl, J. (2011). NICE: Social translucence through UI intervention, WikiSym’11. ACM. (pdf)
• Panciera, K., Halfaker, A., & Terveen, L. (2009). Wikipedians are born, not made: A study of power editors on Wikipedia, GROUP’09. ACM. (pdf)
• Halfaker, A., Kittur, A., Kraut, R., & Riedl, J. (2009). A Jury of Your Peers: Quality, Experience and Ownership in Wikipedia, WikiSym’09. ACM. (pdf)

Other

• Technical reports
  • Asking anonymous editors to register
  • AfC processes and productivity
  • Onboarding new Wikipedians/Rollout
  • Wikipedia article creation
  • Anonymous editor acquisition/Volume
  • Module storage performance
  • Onboarding new Wikipedians/OB6
  • Notifications/Experiment 1
  • VisualEditor's effect on newly registered editors/Results
  • Article feedback/Final quality assessment
  • Article feedback/Stage 3/Conversion and newcomer quality
  • Article feedback/Stage 2/Quality assessment
  • Article feedback/Quality assessment
  • The Rise and Decline
  • New editors' first session and retention
  • Patroller_work_load
  • Vandal fighter work load
  • Newbie reverts and article length
• English Wikipedia newcomer quality over time (writeup, blog)
• Halfaker, A., Riedl, J. Bots & Cyborgs: Wikipedia's Immune System, 2011. IEEE Computing, 45(3), 79-82.
• WMF contracting
  • AFTv5 Feedback quality analysis
  • AFTv5 prominent link quality analysis
  • AFTv5 effect on newcomer conversions
• Other on-wiki research
  • Newcomer desirability modeling