Started from my own discomfort about public spaces condition in my place, continues as a real life movement. Let me introduce you to our project, WikiPublicSpaces!
Have you ever notice, why the park nearby your place can’t be browse on Google Search? Not a single information appear, just a lot of nonsense and irrelevent pictures. This is the core reason why we launch this project, the goal of our project is to make many public spaces to be more visible in digital media.
The participants of ‘WikiPublicSpaces: Photowalk in Medan’ event.
What is this project about? WikiPublicSpaces is a series of activities to take documentation of many public spaces in Medan City and its surrounding areas into Wikimedia projects. Why must Wikimedia projects? Because it’s free for people, and also ge…
Started from my own discomfort about public spaces condition in my place, continues as a real life movement. Let me introduce you to our project, WikiPublicSpaces!
Have you ever notice, why the park nearby your place can’t be browse on Google Search? Not a single information appear, just a lot of nonsense and irrelevent pictures. This is the core reason why we launch this project, the goal of our project is to make many public spaces to be more visible in digital media.
The participants of ‘WikiPublicSpaces: Photowalk in Medan’ event.
What is this project about? WikiPublicSpaces is a series of activities to take documentation of many public spaces in Medan City and its surrounding areas into Wikimedia projects. Why must Wikimedia projects? Because it’s free for people, and also get high exposure by Google algorithm (so it much more easier to access it).
In this event, we define public space as an open and free space for all, precisely like park, field, and city square.
We see public space as an important thing for public interest. To achieve a good governance aspect, public space is one of the most crucial public interest’s element that need to be fulfilled. Wikimedia projects as a part of digital media and partially part of internet ecosystem, is one of many platform that can help public to monitor government’s performance by opening the access of information about public spaces in digital media. This is also the side goal of WikiPublicSpaces project.
Our activity
Starting in Auguts 18th, the participants begin to take photos documentation of public spaces in Medan City, Binjai City, Langkat Regency (Stabat), and Deli Serdang Regency (Lubuk Pakam). After that, with the guidance and assistance from event organizer, they will upload it (photo, article, item) into Wikimedia Commons, Wikipedia, Wikidata. This event include four photowalk and four small workshops sessions in each places and also one closing workshop training session in Medan.
Our impact
From the first proposal, we are expected to contribute around 500 photos, 50 Wikipedia articles, and 60 Wikidata items into Wikimedia projects. This contribution can’t be done without support from local Wikimedia community volunteers (Komunitas Wikimedia Medan) and affiliation from our Chapter, Wikimedia Indonesia.
Beside producing visual documentation, this project also raising people’s awareness about how important is the information access of public spaces for people in the digital media. This information should be accessible and inclusive for everyone. Until this article finished to be written, the range project of WikiPublicSpaces is limited to Medan City and its satellite areas.
To hear children’s laugh, people chit-chat, and dogs barking happily, that’s what we WikiPublicSpaces team fighting for.
For more detailed information about the project you guys can access our first proposal page and our category in Wikimedia Commons.
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