Wikimania brings together Wikimedians from around the world to discuss challenges facing their projects, share achievements, and discover aspects of the Wikimedia movement they may not have encountered before. It is a large gathering that combines conference sessions, workshops, meetups, and many other activities. Wikimania 2026 took place in Paris, France, from July 21 to 25, 2026.
I received a scholarship to attend as part of the ESEAP delegation and traveled to Paris as one of five Korean participants.
Learning Through the Sessions
I arrived in Paris on July 20 and spent the following day participating in the Users with Extended Rights Convening, part of the pre-conference program. Users with extended rights, or UwERs, include administrators, CheckUsers, bureaucrats, interface administrators, and others who hold permissions beyond those needed for ordinary reading and editing on Wikimedia projects. The gathering offered an opportunity to discuss shared challenges and exchange practical knowledge and experiences.
One of the highlights of the first day of the main conference was “New Frontiers in Higher Education Wiki Collaboration.” I was particularly interested in a presentation about an initiative to turn Basque Wikipedia articles into educational videos. The project selects articles on various subjects, adapts them into videos, and shares them on YouTube and other social media platforms.
The presentation addressed several practical challenges, including deciding which articles to adapt and making video content easier to edit and update. It also described how open formats and materials have supported the use of this content in university education, including activities in which participants adapt and edit the videos. What stood out most was the response to short-form versions of the original videos. According to the presenter, these received more than 40 times as many views and interactions as the written content.
A related session on the second day of the main conference was “How Wikipedia is seen through the eyes of social media superstars.” It presented the results of social media initiatives promoting Wikipedia and other Wikimedia projects. The team had established partnerships with content creators, including YouTubers, to produce promotional videos together. The speakers explained the criteria, policies, and procedures behind these partnerships, as well as how different approaches were tailored to specific goals.
Publishing creator-produced content on Wikipedia’s own social media channels helped expand the ways people could discover and visit Wikipedia. The speakers reported a remarkable response. What particularly struck me was how entertaining content could challenge the perception of Wikipedia as dry or unapproachable, introducing it to people who might not otherwise have engaged with it.
As social media shifts from the text-heavy feeds associated with Facebook and Twitter toward short-form video on TikTok, Instagram Reels, and YouTube Shorts, written content faces increasing competition for people’s attention. This presents an ongoing challenge for Wikipedia and other Wikimedia projects.
In response, various initiatives are experimenting with selecting, adapting, and promoting Wikipedia content in short-form video formats. These sessions made me think that Korean-language Wikimedia projects should also explore ways to reach people beyond text, through videos and other formats that are easy to engage with and understand. Such efforts could help spark interest and attract new contributors.
Another session that caught my attention, on the third day of the main conference, was “Wikiexpeditions training: How to conduct outdoor activities aimed at exploring and documenting local places?” It introduced Wikiexpeditions carried out in villages across North Macedonia. Participants visit different villages to photograph buildings, cultural heritage sites, and landscapes, while also contributing to related articles where possible.
I was particularly interested in the similarities with Japan’s Wikipedia Town activities and Korea’s more recent “Wiki Village” projects. The main difference was one of emphasis. Wiki Village projects focus on a particular village, bringing residents and Wikimedians together to develop the fullest possible coverage of that place. By contrast, the Wikiexpeditions described in the session emphasized visiting multiple villages and creating photographic records of each. Despite these differences, I came away with useful ideas for organizing Wiki Village activities.
Meetups and Outcomes
Alongside the regular conference sessions, Wikimania offers meetups, often held over lunch or in the evening. These provide opportunities to share a meal, discuss a particular topic, or hold community meetings. I attended the Asian meetup on the first day of the main conference, the Wiki Loves Monuments meetup on the second, and the ESEAP meetup on the third.
At the Asian meetup, Wikimedians from across Asia discussed Wikipedia Asian Month and proposals for other collaborative projects and edit-a-thons. I took the opportunity to introduce “Wiki Loves Korea,” a proposed initiative in which communities across Asian countries and Wikipedia language editions would work together on Korea-related articles. I also suggested organizing in-person events where participants could meet and edit together.
I attended the Wiki Loves Monuments (WLM) meetup to learn more about the initiative’s current situation. The Korean-language Wikimedia community had not been actively involved in WLM for some time. The discussion covered what was working well, what needed improvement, participants’ experiences, and the challenges of sustaining involvement.
My takeaway was that, unless new momentum develops in Korea or volunteers come forward who want to expand the initiative, modest, ongoing outreach would be the most practical approach for now. For example, we could create an introductory page similar to those used for Wikipedia Asian Month, without necessarily creating a separate page for each year. Reusing that page for regular, straightforward outreach and encouraging people to participate could provide a manageable way to sustain interest in WLM.
Challenges, Lessons Learned, and the Way Forward
Meeting Wikimedians I had never interacted with before was one of the most rewarding parts of Wikimania. Even so, gatherings like this can also involve unfortunate incidents and misunderstandings. Although we cannot prevent every problem, I believe it is important to reflect on what happened and why. I am sharing these reflections in the hope that we can avoid similar situations in the future and build stronger relationships.
My participation in Wikimania was made possible by a scholarship as part of the ESEAP delegation. ESEAP stands for East, Southeast Asia and the Pacific. The ESEAP Hub brings together Wikimedia affiliates and informal communities from across these regions, including Oceania. Wikimedia Korea is one of the affiliates involved.
Within our community, however, we did not have a clear, accessible account of how Wikimedia Korea and the Korean-language Wikimedia communities had become involved in ESEAP, or how that relationship had developed. As a result, we lacked a shared understanding of this part of our history.
It was only at this Wikimania that my fellow Korean participants and I learned in detail about the Hub’s history, the background to our community’s involvement, and the process through which we had begun working together. This gap in our collective memory brought home to me the importance of documenting and preserving our history.
I also resolved to help gather, preserve, and pass on these records so that similar misunderstandings would not happen again. As I write this in September 2026, that work is still underway. My goal is to bring the information together into a documented account that others can consult in the future.
Closing Thoughts
Wikimania 2026 was an opportunity to experience many things, meet many people, and, most importantly, learn a great deal.
Within the ESEAP Hub, I represent Wikimedia Korea and the Korean-language Wikimedia communities. At the same time, my role also involves bringing the Hub’s perspectives back to Wikimedia Korea and those communities. I hope the lessons I learned at Wikimania will help me contribute more effectively, both within the Korean-language community and across the wider ESEAP region.
Finally, I would like to express my sincere thanks to everyone at the ESEAP Hub who made my participation possible, to everyone at Wikimedia Korea, and especially to the Korean participants who traveled with me and offered so much help throughout the event.
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