User:Waitingforspring/Essays/The People We Help

I had been using this site regularly for almost six months before actually joining as an editor. In those months, I visited it several times a week to get help while writing canon fanfic, and it became an indispensable resource for me, as I had all information about cats and events at my fingertips instead of having to do lengthy research through books. Even if I did not know the extent of work, time and grief a handful of people invested in making the wiki what it was, I was happy for its existence, and its creators had all my respect.

And I was not alone in that. There are hundreds of thousands of fans who, despite being silent, are infinitely grateful for your work.

The purpose of our activity and our place in the community was already the subject of several great essays created by brilliant people. I do not want to repeat what was written in those as I could never match up to their level; you should read them if you have not done so yet. However, I would like to point out one related thing that somehow was never really thought about, but I consider it of paramount importance, and it will likely change the way you view the site and your work on it.

Why do we invest time in contributing? The answer you will give is probably along the lines of: to create a complete and accurate reference material about the Warriors world.

That is perfectly correct, but there is more to that. Let's ask the question: how many fans do we actually help with our work?

The answer: an average of 26000 individual people visit the wiki each month, with values peaking at 38000 per month, and constantly increasing. Integrate this data over the past years, and you can see that the number of hundreds of thousands of fans quoted in the introduction is by no means an exaggeration. And note that this is only the amount of individual persons, not counting multiple visits - the actual pageviews are well over one million per month.

This large number is not at all surprising if you take in account the size of the Warriors fandom. With more than six million books sold, and many people borrowing them instead of buying, the number of readers can reach even a million. Most fans obviously end up doing an internet search to obtain more information on the books, world and characters, in order to understand the plot, review what they read, view the available books, get data for fanfic or roleplay, or to do homework. And if they do, they will surely find and visit our wiki - no matter what Warriors-related topic you search for on the internet, a link to Warriors Wiki will show up on the first page (most often at the top) of the search results.

By this time, I guess you understand the message I try to get across in this essay - contributing here is likely the most extensive thing you have ever been involved in. If you participate in real-world hobbies or projects, you reach only several dozens or hundreds of people; but here the amount is a thousand times higher.

By no means do I wish to suggest with this that a "virtual" hobby is more important than any real-world activity, depending on its user base. At least in my traditionalist views, real life has always priority over the virtual one. However, if you have already decided to spend time here, knowing how many fans benefit of your work might give you a new and more extended vision and resolve, and make you edit and behave more responsibly. Apart from regarding things like "I fix this article so it could get silver grade", you might also view it like "I fix this article so all those many people who rely on us could get a flawless reference material". It is wonderful to know that a handful of members could create something that is used by such an incredible number of Warriors fans.

Certainly, this view was the main reason why I started contributing (and still doing it, more than a year after I stopped reading Warriors books), and this was why I sometimes insisted on some unconventional ideas. Of course, there are other reasons too that keep me here, such as working together with some of my best friends I ever met online - but that is beyond the subject of the present essay. :)

Being dedicated for a long time, being involved in projects and always trying to do your best to improve the wiki is not easy.

All the responsibilities you have and all the problems you have to deal with start to wear you down excessively after a time, and sometimes it is hard to balance hobbies with real life. There will come a time when you have to step down and let others to take over.

Nevertheless, always remember that there are hundreds of thousands of fans who, despite being silent, are infinitely grateful for your work.

Notable Essays

 * Why We Joined the Wiki by Sandy
 * Making a Difference by Bramble
 * How to Gain Respect by Insane