Wikivoyage talk:Social media

Facebook page

Swept in from the pub

Facebook is a major marketing tool, and I think we need to sort out how we are going to utilise it. When we were at WT, the admins there did a good job of making regular posts. But now things seem to have dropped off. These are the most prominent FB pages we have:

• wikivoyage [1], 293 fans, occasional posts (would be interested to know who runs this)
• Wikivoyage [2], 434 fans, no posts, created automatically using Wikipedia article
• Wikivoyage - deutsch [3], 271 fans, regular German posts, has the main fb.com/Wikivoyage domain

Firstly, we should merge the first two pages to increase the number of fans and not have an identity crisis. The process appears to be explained here. Then a few admins/trusted users who are interested should be assigned page admin rights, and allowed to make posts on relevant items. I would call relevant items new DotMs, OtbPs and FTTs, new Star articles, huge new features (listing editor, reviews site, OSM maps, book creator, etc) and possibly travel warnings. Page admins should never comment on other pages or status updates to keep neutrality. After that, we could request that the German page hand over the main URL, and give fb.com/wikivoyage.de in return. Other WMF pages keep the main URL for English. It may be worth creating a new policy page outlining the rules.

Thoughts on this plan? JamesA ^>talk 05:29, 2 February 2013 (UTC)

It has my full support. And, I was under the impression that the WMF operated the first of the three fanpages, though I don't know that for sure. -- AndreCarrotflower (talk) 05:35, 2 February 2013 (UTC)

I highly doubt that the WMF operate it. They would've gave it direct to the community as they don't like getting involved in that sort of stuff. Also, the soccer posts when the page was first opened and the patchy English in response to some fans' wall posts again make me think it can't be someone official at the WMF. If I remember correctly, it may have been User:Saqib, actually. JamesA ^>talk 05:47, 2 February 2013 (UTC)

Support - A central Facebook page sounds like a great idea and one that would really help attract new editors and users. Perhaps it could also be used for 'travel games' - e.g. where is this photo or where can we find X? If we asked users to post the URL of the article that referenced it we'd see greater footfall and keep people interested. --Nicholasjf21 (talk) 19:15, 2 February 2013 (UTC)

To address User:JamesA's comment: if it wasn't operated by, on behalf of, or with the blessing of the WMF, whoever did run it had an awful lot of nerve naming the page "Wikivoyage.official". -- AndreCarrotflower (talk) 22:30, 2 February 2013 (UTC)

The Wikitravel Page on Facebook was established and run by me. I did my best to post new DoTMs, OtBPs, and Star articles as they happened, and we got up over 1,000 likes. LtPowers (talk) 19:05, 2 February 2013 (UTC)

It would certainly be great to have an official Facebook page in English. However, with regards to users keeping it updated, how about creating a specific policy for social media altogether. There is also twitter.com/Wikivoyage & Wikivoyage page on Google+ which appear to be operated by German WV. How about creating Wikivoyage:Social media, where we can create a policy regarding use of such accounts (appropriate posts, frequency of posts, who can have access to it, etc) and also the possibility of integrating social media into Wikivoyage content. A couple notes about creating official WV social media accounts: use of the WV logo is governed by WMF wmf:Trademark policy and in order to create a page on sites, the person creating the page would need authority/authorization to do so...part of Wikivoyage:Social media would need to address who can create an account on behalf of WV, transfer of ownership (once created, what Wikivoyager will keep track of login info to all accounts), & who can contact social media companies on behalf of WV in the event of any dispute over ownership of an account (since it seems like WMF leaves these kinds of things to the communities). Remember that as a wiki, such accounts should be as open as possible (ie. we need explicit policies regarding use). WMF has m:Social media, which is worth looking at, but there's no set policies regarding accounts for different projects (other than WMF & Wikipedia). AHeneen (talk) 00:51, 3 February 2013 (UTC)

I very much like your ideas. I've gone ahead and created Wikivoyage:Social media so we have something to go by as the discussion continues. It can be deleted later if decided against. I guess something we would want to consider is whether we want strict rules regarding frequency of posts, content of posts, etc? I've co-managed a Facebook page for another wiki before, and we had few rules, other than sign your posts and use common sense. That page was created 3 years ago and now has over a thousand fans too. We can always have guidelines regarding how many posts per week, and some things that users may find interesting.

As you've said, we would need to contact the WMF to get a one-time authorisation. The Wikidata community already runs a few social media pages, including Facebook, so it shouldn't be that difficult. We should probably assign one long-time administrator or 'crat to a role of leadership for the first month, while we sort out logo/TM issues, who will be a page admin and the merging of the various pages/URLs. JamesA ^>talk 02:50, 3 February 2013 (UTC)

Sorry to re-awaken this discussion, but are we any closer to securing WV's various accounts? --Nick (talk) 21:04, 17 March 2013 (UTC)

Status of this proposal?

What's the status of this proposal? I've not heard any updates in some time. As an active Facebook user, I would really like to see Wikivoyage establish a robust social media presence.

-- AndreCarrotflower (talk) 04:17, 3 March 2013 (UTC)

Who currently owns the login on facebook? --Inas (talk) 08:26, 3 March 2013 (UTC)

I contacted the page administrator of [4] through the official message system on 18 February, asking for him/her to give me page admin rights, but have heard no response. The next step would be to report the page as a violation of trademark (through its use of the WV logo, name and "wikivoyage.official" username) and request that the page is handed over to myself (who can then distribute access to other admins). The issue is that I don't own the trademark; the WMF does, so they would probably have to make the report. And then Facebook may find it's too hard to transfer ownership, and simply shut down the page. Is there some way that Facebook could tell us the name of the owner of the page? JamesA ^>talk 09:46, 3 March 2013 (UTC)

See: m:Wikivoyage/Lounge#Social media. I'm also interested in helping with managing the accounts. AHeneen (talk) 12:17, 3 March 2013 (UTC)

Facebook

Ok, rather than wait on trying to contact anyone, I've gone ahead and created a Facebook page...just need "likes". Regarding the cryptic web address...I have an idea for usurping the "facebook.com/Wikivoyage" address in a friendly way, but don't want to give details to any of IB's prying eyes. As far as the page goes, some notes:

• To be given manager status for the page, send me an email using Special:EmailUser/AHeneen and include the email address associated with your facebook account (because when adding admins, the only field asks for email...not name). Since we don't have a formal policy in place yet, I'll only give access to other WV admins.
• The timeline has been set up with "January 2013" as the launch date. IMO, going further back in time (eg. 2006) means having to explain things that don't need to be explained. This is just the timeline, on the about page & page info, Jan 2013 is the "lauched" date & 2006 is the "founded" date. One implication of this is that nothing can be posted on the timeline prior to Jan 2013...any problem with this.
• Cover image is from the DotM...Canberra. I didn't see any images in the Udupi page that would look as good in landscape orientation. The cover photo could be changed with each new featured page, if there is a good image (in landscape orientation).
• Page content so far is just the DotM, OtBP, & FTT features since January. For some reason, thumbnails to use on postings don't include all images on the linked page...I don't know why. The reason there is no picture for Bali is that Facebook didn't recognize any photos, so I couldn't select a pic to go with it. In lieu of a policy for the page (so anyone who gets added as an admin of the page doesn't go wild), any objections to limiting posts to just featured pages (DotM, OtBP, & FTT) and newly approved Star pages? Any other things to post should be discussed/approved here first before posted.

So, any thoughts/suggestions? And of course, don't forget to "like" us. Could a link be placed in the site notice? AHeneen (talk) 09:02, 12 March 2013 (UTC)

Sounds good, and thanks for adding me as an admin. I'll comment on things in more detail in later. I do think admins should have a bit more flexibility than just showcases and star pages, however. Some discretion could be used. Say if it's "World Tourism Day", I think we could make a post about that, encouraging likers to check out Wikivoyage for their next trip. And an example I just found: Wikimedia Australia made a post flaunting Canberra as our Destination of the Month. I think it'd be appropriate to comment something like "Thanks for the share! Our contributors have put a lot of effort into preparing the Canberra article for the city's centenary, so feel free to check it out." Does that sound appropriate? I think if we think things through a number of times before posting/commenting, and use common sense, it should be okay. And are we requiring that posts/comments should have a signature? (something like -JamesA, or ^JA?) JamesA ^>talk 05:19, 13 March 2013 (UTC)

A post to the canberra centenary facebook page would probably be in order. --Inas (talk) 11:01, 13 March 2013 (UTC)

Good idea. Those are the kind of posts I think could be useful and attract more likes/exposure. I just posted on the Centenary of Canberra wall, but it may not get many views considering the huge number of posts being made to that wall. I also posted on the Udupi Tourism page. If we keep doing things like this each month, the page owners may even decide to highlight the posts. I might go ahead and use my personal account to send a message to the page, encouraging them to highlight it to help tourists get around. JamesA ^>talk 11:28, 13 March 2013 (UTC)

Liked. -- AndreCarrotflower (talk) 00:51, 19 March 2013 (UTC)

When I ran the WT Facebook page I changed the page's 'cover image' monthly to match the DotM. Something you might want to consider. LtPowers (talk) 15:25, 1 September 2013 (UTC)

Google Plus

Is there going to be a Google Plus page? Might be common to hear that it's a ghost town, but it actually has a pretty big community focus, especially around travel, photography and tech stuff. I think you'll find that the average Google+ user would fit in much better with Wikivoyage, compared to Facebook, and they'll be more likely to pitch in as well. -- 129.78.233.210 06:00, 13 March 2013 (UTC)

I'm not that knowledgeable how Google+ works, not having an account there, but I think you're right; we'd want to expand into as much territory as possible. Our big 3 social media sites would be FB, Twitter and Google+. How do you think we could increase exposure of Wikivoyage through Google+? JamesA ^>talk 06:03, 13 March 2013 (UTC)

It's pretty much the same as Facebook, but the big differences are in Circles and Communities, with a bit of Twitter mixed in. A page can actively promote in Communities centred around travel, depending on rules of course. Other than that, it will be a little hard to build popularity, although if Wikivoyage gets mentioned by say, Trey Ratcliff, Tom Anderson or even Mike Elgan who are very big travellers, that would pretty much be the jackpot. There is one Wikivoyage page right now, but it's in German. -- 129.78.233.210 06:35, 13 March 2013 (UTC)

I couldn't figure out how Google+ functions either...spent an hour or so one day trying to learn what it is about. AHeneen (talk) 08:53, 13 March 2013 (UTC)

Pinterest

I think after FB the next priority should be Pinterest. "Wikivoyage" exists as a defaced page. I've got to contact WMF legal so they can contact Pinterest to remove that page and allow me to take over that url name. Seems like a lot of Pinterest users have a board about where they'd like to travel to, so Wikivoyage has lots of potential to attract attention. AHeneen (talk) 08:50, 13 March 2013 (UTC)

I'm not sure how useful this could be, given that it's pretty much a picture-only site and the license is not compatible with ours. I don't think we could share images from commons on there could we? Texugo (talk) 11:19, 13 March 2013 (UTC)

I am not an expert on Pinterest either, so can't help here. Establishing pages on more sites does give more exposure, but we don't want to stretch our resources. According to w:List of social networking websites, Facebook, Twitter and Google+ are the (Western) world's 3 most popular social networks. JamesA ^>talk 11:37, 13 March 2013 (UTC)

Twitter

Swept in from the pub

We now have a Twitter account which you can find here. Any follows (yay!), ideas or comments would be very welcome! --Nick ^talk 19:41, 3 June 2013 (UTC)

Great, logo needs to be changed and btw, why no tweets in English? happy tweeting! --Saqib (talk) 20:02, 3 June 2013 (UTC)

I think we're going to leave the logo as it is for the moment, since we've been asked to 'cease and desist' using the current one and haven't yet decided on the replacement. The German tweets are from when it used to be the German Wikivoyage account, but I'm going to wipe those off shortly. Thanks for your support! :) --Nick ^talk 20:08, 3 June 2013 (UTC)

Nick, any idea how to get html codes of the stroke colours contains in this file. --Saqib (talk) 20:29, 3 June 2013 (UTC)

Yes - I personally find this tool very useful. The colours of the boxes on the right (working clockwise and starting from the top) are: #69999F #B383B3 #71B37B #8A84A3 #D09440 #578E86 #4F93C0 #D56D76 #D5DC76 #AC5C91 #B5D29F Hope this helps! :) --Nick ^talk 20:39, 3 June 2013 (UTC)

Oh many thanks Nick. --Saqib (talk) 20:44, 3 June 2013 (UTC)

You're very welcome! :) --Nick ^talk 22:11, 4 June 2013 (UTC)

Hey, that's really great! I would have followed if not for the fact that I do not use Twitter, but I know the power therein. I would not wipe out the German tweets, they are alright to me, and a nice example what one can tweet about.

If I am right in guessing that you are asking for ideas on what to tweet about, apart from the DoTM and the other front page features, a good thing to tweet about would be the important article updates:

1. article overhauls to guide, and obviously star, status - I guess we could use a process when an article that is updated is submitted for review before it get promoted as such on Twitter and otherwise
2. other important article updates, such as discussion of new transportation features added (one that comes to my mind was the recent addition of Lisbon metro connection to Portela airport, which, if covered in detail shortly before launch, would have been of interest to many)

Those kinds of tweets could keep people coming to Wikivoyage and interested in the core content. Just my 3 cents. PrinceGloria (talk) 20:50, 3 June 2013 (UTC)

Definitely - they're great ideas! You may be a little too late *ahem* for the German tweets, but they are all still available on Facebook, so, if required, they can be restored. --Nick ^talk 20:53, 3 June 2013 (UTC)

Updates regarding our expeditions, mentions in the press, maybe the occasional item from the discover section on the front page... Maybe a link to a travel photo of the day? Texugo (talk) 21:06, 3 June 2013 (UTC)

They're all really good ideas - I like the idea of a photo of the day too! Are mentions of the site worth re-tweeting as well (as long as they're nice)? --Nick ^talk 21:12, 3 June 2013 (UTC)

I don't see why not, if they are positive and not too random... Texugo (talk) 21:18, 3 June 2013 (UTC)

Sounds good to me! --Nick ^talk 22:03, 3 June 2013 (UTC)

So, while we are at that, how about starting a process where we can tout announce major updates, overhauls and upgrades to articles for review by other seasoned editors and, if worthy, a mention on Twitter? I guess it would be a great tool not only to make the Twitter account communicate there is a lot of new, quality content on Wikivoyage appearing everyday (and that you can indeed edit Wikivoyage, it is not a static guide website), but also to encourage us all to make quality edits and wrap up our work on a particular article or section within into a nice whole. I have a big amount of unfinished work started across many articles because all too often did I lack that little motivational prodding to wrap it up.

What do you think, guys? PrinceGloria (talk) 04:33, 4 June 2013 (UTC)

That sounds like a good idea to me! I'll try and make sure something new is posted every day. --Nick ^talk 09:43, 4 June 2013 (UTC)

Is sending specific tourism orgs a link to their guide on here and asking 'what do you think?' worth doing? --Nick ^talk 09:12, 6 June 2013 (UTC)

Isn't this the objective of the Wikivoyage:Tourism Bureau Expedition. I believe it would be a great idea to do that. Meanwhile, how about the "article expansion / update" announcement, appraisal and tweeting process? PrinceGloria (talk) 11:10, 6 June 2013 (UTC)

That does sound good - how would we go about organising it? --Nick ^talk 11:44, 6 June 2013 (UTC)

Yeah, not a bad idea. You might want to set up a request page/section somewhere for that kind of thing, and an associated list of articles for which that has already been done, to prevent duplication. Texugo (talk) 12:09, 6 June 2013 (UTC)

Good idea! Will do! --Nick ^talk 12:13, 6 June 2013 (UTC)

Here we go: Wikivoyage:Social media/Twitter. Please post any nominations there! :) --Nick ^talk 12:44, 6 June 2013 (UTC)

Speaking of social media... how to deal with spam on the Wikivoyage Facebook page?

Swept in from the pub

I'm an admin at the Wikivoyage Facebook page. I just signed on a few minutes ago to find that, apropos of nothing, a new person had "liked" our page and, only a few minutes later, left a link on it to a random hotel in Bordeaux. Unless something happened earlier that I'm not aware of, this is the first spammer we've had on our Facebook page. It's kind of nice in a way that we've become important enough for them to take notice, but it begs the question of what to do about it. I made the executive decision to delete the post (though I figured that unilaterally banning the user would be a bridge too far), but before this happens again I'd like to either know or have established a policy for determining what is and isn't spam on our Facebook page, and how to deal with it. -- AndreCarrotflower (talk) 14:09, 20 June 2013 (UTC)

When I ran the WT page, I deleted spam and banned the user unceremoniously. We don't need 'em. LtPowers (talk) 18:13, 20 June 2013 (UTC)

Agreed. I think if we get too many rules, things become a bit of a hassle, and the page still has a fairly miniscule 88 likers. James A ▪ talk 05:01, 21 June 2013 (UTC)

For interest that's what we do for the Wikipedia page (run by WMF). When I see it I delete and ban and I know most of the other admins have similar opinions). Jalexander (talk) 21:03, 21 June 2013 (UTC)

There should probably be a simple notice that spam will be deleted. Also, there is a difference between the person spamming a page/link for their business (or one they're paid to promote) and a user posting a link to an interesting/relevant page or link. The latter we could be a little more polite with....maybe delete and send them a message (which could be a generic, pre-written note) that we don't allow such links. A third case is when someone might post a Wikivoyage link or Wikivoyage-related link. Let's say someones on the wall that "I found Wikivoyage guides to Hong Kong very useful on my trip." and has a link to their travel blog entry (which actually mentions Wikivoyage, not just trying to get attention). I'm of the opinion/philosophy that we should start out nice, then take progressive actions if that doesn't work—delete spam, but have a notice and when not blatantly trying to get attention to a business, the user should get a message that we don't permit non-relevant links—repeat spammers then can be banned. This shouldn't be a major problem, until we get a lot more likes (say, tens of thousands). Until then, I don't see a problem with taking this nicer approach to deal with the rare case of spam...we can always adjust policy later if this becomes a problem. AHeneen (talk) 00:23, 22 June 2013 (UTC)

In that case, I'm glad I brought this issue up. The incident that prompted the original post was very clearly spam, but I for one see no problem at all with the second and third hypotheticals that AHeneen brought up. If it were up to me, I would just as soon let those stay up. Even if we're in agreement that spam should be deleted and spammers banned, I think the boundaries of what is considered "spam" are something that's worth coming to a consensus on. -- AndreCarrotflower (talk) 00:52, 22 June 2013 (UTC)

Logo

The WV Facebook page is still using the old logo. Could an admin over there change this please? --Nick ^talk 23:27, 9 September 2013 (UTC)

WV on WP facebook

I just wonder, how are WV articles selected for posting on WP Facebook? Is there any nomination process? Their appearance boosts the number of visitors quite significantly. Until recently Transnistria article attracted no more than one digit number of visitors per day and following FB "advert" it jumped up to 960. Amazing. Needless to say, the numbers are dropping down since again, but still...Danapit (talk) 07:32, 25 September 2013 (UTC)

I believe this is the page. It might be worth us contacting them! --Nick ^talk 13:42, 25 September 2013 (UTC)

Help boost our Facebook page likes

Swept in from the pub

Hi all. I'm on a long Wikibreak here and will be back soon, but have been keeping track of our Facebook page now and again (thanks to the other dedicated users who've been doing a much better job!) I've found a way to merge the auto-generated FB page of 800+ likes which we have no control over with our own ~200 like, regularly updated page. However, the processing will be very slow as my request has been put in a queue, and can only be sped up with user votes. So if you've got Facebook, please take a couple of seconds to do the following:

1. Go to: [5]
2. Click the "Edit" button in top-right
3. Click "Vote on community pages", and then "Yes". Save

And that's it. The more people who vote, the further up the queue we go. It should add over 800 likes to our page, according to Facebook, so will be a dramatic boost to our social media presence. Thanks all. James A ▪ talk 13:20, 29 September 2013 (UTC)

At step 3 I only see "Category" and "Official page", no "Vote on community pages". Nicolas1981 (talk) 02:11, 30 September 2013 (UTC)

Nick, actually the merging process is already completed that's why you won't see that "Vote on community pages" option at step 3 anymore. --Saqib (talk) 07:02, 30 September 2013 (UTC)

Not much of a merge; we're still at 216 likes on the active Page. LtPowers (talk) 13:59, 30 September 2013 (UTC)

Yes, it seems like they denied it for some silly, unknown reason. I'm not able to rerequest it either. The WMF folk will need to get onto it. I worry, because the WT FB page is doing very well. James A ▪ talk 02:19, 4 October 2013 (UTC)

Recent tweets..

I'm not sure about the last couple of tweets that the Wikivoyage account has made.

For this one.. https://twitter.com/Wikivoyage/status/493432315259801601 I think it would be fine to say we have travel advice for people travelling during Eid. But I'm not quite sure the WV account should be wishing people a happy and blessed Eid, It really isn't travel related.

Similarly for this one https://twitter.com/Wikivoyage/status/492324688496824321 I'm not sure what the relevance is to Wikivoyage. it sounds like a personal sentiment to me. --Inas (talk) 01:08, 28 July 2014 (UTC)

Inas, would you also say we probably shouldn't be wishing travelers a Merry Christmas? I think the tweet on Eid is very appropriate, as so many people travel to be with family on Eid. I'd feel the same way about a tweet for Christmas or Chinese New Years. Ikan Kekek (talk) 01:14, 28 July 2014 (UTC)

I tweeted both of these among several others since June 3. Don't you think such tweets even though not travel-related but can actually hook new followers but If you guys think, thats not appropriate, I'll take down both of these tweets. --Saqib (talk) 01:18, 28 July 2014 (UTC)

I wouldn't recommend for you to take either tweet down, myself. I see Inas' point in relation to the Malaysian Airlines crash, but I don't fault you for either tweet. Ikan Kekek (talk) 01:28, 28 July 2014 (UTC)

I'm not overly stressed about it - so let's not worry about those particular tweets, lets just resolve where to from here.

I think hooking new followers is good. I've no problem with the hashtag of #Eid. I just think that rather than wishing people Merry Christmas - which I think would be a personal sentiment and also inappropriate - we should link to some travel information about Christmas and places to visit etc. We all know our only true site-wide celebration is April Fools Day. --Inas (talk) 01:45, 28 July 2014 (UTC)

As someone who did a lot of the Tweeting until recently, I probably agree with Inas that the Malaysian Airlines crash tweet is perhaps not the best idea (I'd hate for us to be seen to benefit from a tragedy), though the Eid and Ramadan tweets are probably harmless and perhaps more indicative of a less formal, more friendly relationship with our followers. That said, like everyone else, I think we should leave the tweets as they are for the moment. Either way, I think Saqib is doing great work on Twitter and a much better job than I ever did! :) --Nick ^talk 01:56, 28 July 2014 (UTC)

Inas, IK and Nick. I was just trying to convey condolence from a travellers community to friends and family of deceased travellers. Anyways, I'll be more careful next time. --Saqib (talk) 02:05, 28 July 2014 (UTC)

Facebook

Swept in from the pub

Wouldn't it be a good idea to get some funds from WMF through grant for the promotion of WV through Facebook? Andrew? --Saqib (talk) 23:02, 27 July 2014 (UTC)

What do you mean by "promotion"? We already have someone, I assume a volunteer, posting updates (new DotM etc.) to a WV page. I average about one link a week; when a friend says they are going to London or wherever, I often reply with a WV link. I cannot see that such activity needs funding.

If you mean buying Facebook ads, it would take a great deal to convince me that that would be a good use of WMF funds. Pashley (talk) 00:08, 28 July 2014 (UTC)

Yes, I meant the latter. Well I'm afraid our presence on social media is not good particularly on FB. FB is without doubts a good tool for SEO and I think an affective way to increase the traffic to WV. When we'll make a post about featured articles, it will gives our featured articles an SEO boast. Our competitor WT FB page have quite good fan base than us. I think a FB page with good number of fan base is a powerful way to expand our reach and increase awareness of WV. I'm not sure either if that is really good and appropriate usage of WMF funds but we can try asking WMF grant department persons about their thoughts on this first. After-all, WV is the youngest project of WMF and some more publicity will definitely required to increase its visibility. --Saqib (talk) 00:34, 28 July 2014 (UTC)

Unfortunately, as Facebook's procedures have evolved over the years it has become progressively less effective as a marketing tool. I'm happy to help maintain Wikivoyage's Facebook presence, but I think relying on Facebook as the main, or even a significant, avenue of promotion for Wikivoyage would be a mistake. -- AndreCarrotflower (talk) 01:10, 28 July 2014 (UTC)

Whilst I would definitely say that is worth maintaining and perhaps expanding our FB presence, I would agree that the WMF's money would perhaps be better spent advertising this site itself rather than our social media presence. As Andrew has suggested, it might be better to look at more efficient and effective ways to get people using WV on a regular basis. And it's always worth remembering: cream rises! --Nick ^talk 02:27, 28 July 2014 (UTC)

I'm not for or against the proposal, but Facebook has definitely tried to ultra-monetise pages over the past few years/months. Not only do they ask you to pay to get new likes, but they ask you to pay so that your own followers see your posts. Even if someone has liked our page, they're not guaranteed to see our posts unless we cough up money. And when Facebook pops up and shows small-ish amounts like $30 for thousands of views, that's only for one post. For effectiveness, we'd have to do it for every one of our posts, and the costs increase. I manage another Facebook campaign page on behalf of a municipal government, and they've just earmarked AUD8000 for Facebook advertising and promotion. It's not small money. James A ▪ talk 15:29, 28 July 2014 (UTC)

Agreed. What might one day be possible (not necessarily through WMF funds but also possibly through sponsors) could be some kind of content related competition, like Wiki Loves Monuments did for monuments. Access to the WMF notice options is the key to success, much better than any "purchased" visibility on social networks. Say we can get some fabulous travel prizes to win -a trip to a great destination, travel guides, photo cameras- for a competition to add a specific kind of relevant content or pictures, that could lead to some serious sharing on FB and other social media as well as attract new readership and authors. Of course, this kind of thing requires a huge amount of work, and I'm not volunteering. :-) JuliasTravels (talk) 15:58, 28 July 2014 (UTC)

After reading all above comments, I'm very much convinced that advertisement on FB was definitely not a good idea and is not worth but your idea of a competition is just great Julia and I think this is something we should really talk about. Wikipedia is doing Wikicup and I think we should do such a on-wiki writing competition of a similar pattern. Anyways, I've asked Asaf Bartov, Head of WMF Grants to shed some light on this as I think he probably have some good experience with such stuff. --Saqib (talk) 16:48, 28 July 2014 (UTC)

The notice system Julia is talking about is called m:Special:CentralNotice.

If you'd like to know what running Wiki Loves Monuments entails, then look over commons:Commons:Wiki Loves Monuments 2013/FAQ. It might make more sense to piggyback on one of these larger projects. For example, could we partner with a photo-taking project to get more images added to existing articles? We could perhaps ask specifically for skyline/panorama images for pagebanners, if you didn't want just anything. Or perhaps WLM would be willing to have a suggestion that important monuments be considered for inclusion here as well as at the Wikipedias. WhatamIdoing (talk) 15:26, 29 July 2014 (UTC)

Touting on WV's Facebook page

Swept in from the pub

Just a heads-up that I blocked and banned this account from en.voy's Facebook page for touting. -- AndreCarrotflower (talk) 17:55, 26 November 2014 (UTC)

You don't need to mention that here because its not serious nor important. That often happens on FB and its absolutely fine to block people there. --Saqib (talk) 18:03, 26 November 2014 (UTC)

Okay, but it seems like since we make such a big deal out of user bans on Wikivoyage itself, it might be controversial to do the same on our social media accounts. -- AndreCarrotflower (talk) 18:34, 26 November 2014 (UTC)

You gave me a good chuckle Andrew. Now I get you. --Saqib (talk) 18:38, 26 November 2014 (UTC)

We only make a big deal when they're contributors. The standards on Facebook are quite different. Powers ^(talk) 20:28, 26 November 2014 (UTC)

Social media share buttons

Swept in from the pub

Wonder whether it would be a good idea to use social media share (Twitter and Facebook) in our guides. It would be definitely make much more easier for our readers to share a guide if they want to. Wikinews is one such example which use such social media buttons. --Saqib (talk) 22:22, 26 November 2014 (UTC)

First we should solve the problem of the image chosen by Facebook as a preview: Right now Facebook chooses the banner, which in many cases is just a grey default image. We can set the image manually by setting <meta property="og:image" content="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b0/Chaukundi1.JPG" />. Ideally, we should suggest the picture in the heading paragraph if there is one, or the first image of the "See" section if there is one. Since we have banners, the first non-banner image is often in "Get In" or "Get around", usually showing a boring airport or bus. Nicolas1981 (talk) 04:06, 27 November 2014 (UTC)

I oppose those buttons strongly. The normal way to add the button is adding code that directs the browser to get some elements from the foreign site. This allows them to keep track of our users, which is unacceptable. We would also be supporting those sites. Such buttons should be implemented/installed by the user, not by websites. --LPfi (talk) 07:51, 27 November 2014 (UTC)

Does the solution have to include coding and tracking? How about just invoking the user's Twitter client and embedding the URL with TinyURL? --Andrewssi2 (talk) 09:12, 27 November 2014 (UTC)

No coding required Andrew. --Saqib (talk) 10:54, 27 November 2014 (UTC)

While this is better, it still involves promoting those sites on every page. I think it would be a dramatic decision, which should not be taken lightly. --LPfi (talk) 12:15, 27 November 2014 (UTC)

You're right but then I wonder why Wikinews uses these social share links and even on their main page. Other than that, WP Signpost also have social share buttons. While on MediaWiki, I found few social media extensions as well. —The preceding comment was added by Saqib (talk • contribs)

I also oppose social media share buttons. The drawbacks cited by LPfi far outweigh the benefits. Anyway, it's easy enough for users to share our guides on Facebook or Twitter simply by typing in the URL. -- AndreCarrotflower (talk) 15:05, 27 November 2014 (UTC)

On a related topic that should probably be spun off into a separate discussion thread, I would strongly support allowing the official Facebook pages of listed attractions, businesses, etc. to be linked, as fr:voy (and probably other language versions) do. -- AndreCarrotflower (talk) 15:08, 27 November 2014 (UTC)

The rationale against doing so has been that Facebook pages are almost invariably available in one click from the listing's home page, making it somewhat redundant. Sharing buttons, on the other hand, seem like something worth discussing. I don't see any strong drawbacks, and at any rate, other sister projects have deemed them useful. Powers ^(talk) 20:40, 27 November 2014 (UTC)

I thought that it had already been resolved that it's no problem to provide a Facebook page under "url" for a business, if they have no other website. I'm not sure whether the previous discussion was at Wikivoyage talk:Listings or here. But in practice, haven't we been allowing Facebook page links under such circumstances for a few months already? Ikan Kekek (talk) 20:54, 27 November 2014 (UTC)

Just to return to Saqib's question of FB/Twitter link buttons, I don't see any disadvantages. The privacy issue that LPfi identified (and he is right to raise them) would not be a concern with this type of integration. The advantages would be greater linking of Wikivoyage articles on the web in general which would help both SEO and general internet mindshare. Andrewssi2 (talk) 02:44, 28 November 2014 (UTC)

Oppose. I see no reason to clutter our guides with this. On the other hand, I routinely link here from Facebook whenever one of our guides is relevant to a conversation there, & would encourage others to do that. Pashley (talk) 02:57, 29 December 2014 (UTC)

Add names of account owners to this page

I think User:AndreCarrotflower and User:Nicholasjf21 are the two people currently operating our social media accounts, but I'm not actually sure whether that's true or complete. I think it's important to include contact information for the account owners somewhere, so could someone who knows who the admins are update either the "Overview" or "How to get involved" sections with a list of the people who operate these accounts? It would be nice to expand our presence on social media to try and attract new readers/editors, but I think the first step might be identifying who is currently in charge of those accounts. -- Ryan • (talk) • 20:41, 15 January 2015 (UTC)

User:JamesA has been fairly active on our Facebook page as well - not so much lately, but at least as recently and as often as Nicholasjf21. I believe User:Saqib helms our Twitter feed. -- AndreCarrotflower (talk) 21:02, 15 January 2015 (UTC)

Hello Ryan and Andre. Actually yes, thats me. I've been maintaining the Twitter handle since June I guess. Unfortunately we don't have much audience (followers) on Twitter and Facebook and we really need to increase that somehow if we want to have attract new readers/editors through social media. --Saqib (talk) 21:19, 15 January 2015 (UTC)

Thanks, I've updated the "Overview" section to note which user(s) are maintaining the accounts, which should provide enough contact information for anyone wanting to get involved. On a related note, I could help out with the Facebook page if desired - I've been thinking that it might make sense to use our Discover section as a source for additional posts, if there is interest. -- Ryan • (talk) • 21:27, 15 January 2015 (UTC)

Definately. I've been tweeting discover sectins facts but abondoned it due to lack of time. Will resume it on Twitter at some point soon. --Saqib (talk) 21:31, 15 January 2015 (UTC)

Should we mention social media accounts in other languages? The page may get confusing with too many accounts. --Saqib (talk) 22:31, 15 January 2015 (UTC)

Saqib, why you have remove the other languages? It's an information shown by every language that is useful to keep. PS I hanven't revert your change because I prefer to discuss it here. --Andyrom75 (talk) 22:42, 15 January 2015 (UTC)

Andy sahib, This is English language Wikivoyage and I'm not expecting someone to look for social media accounts in Italian or German language here. If one looking for social media account in language other than English, they should be looking at the relevant language version of Wikivoyage and you guys have page where you mention your social media accounts. --Saqib (talk) 22:46, 15 January 2015 (UTC)

(BTW If you want to revert my edit, please feel free to do so. Lets have an edit war on the joyful occassion of Wikivoyage birthday!) --Saqib (talk) 22:50, 15 January 2015 (UTC)

(edit conflict) Show those links in every wiki will facilitate more people to know about their existence, and this is more important on en:voy where most of the people is able to contribute. Which is the part of the table that get you confused? PS I have never had an edit war with anyone, and for sure I won't start with you ;-) --Andyrom75 (talk) 22:55, 15 January 2015 (UTC)

I see. Good point. Perhaps then, we'll have to create a seperate table to mention the accounts in languages other than English. I'll try to do so tomorrow but if you get some time, please do it. --Saqib (talk) 22:59, 15 January 2015 (UTC)

(edit conflict) I'd suggest restoring the links to social media accounts in other languages, both to help promote Wikivoyage in those languages (as User:Andyrom75 has noted) and also as a potential source of ideas to use for English Wikivoyage social media accounts. However, showing the admins for those accounts strikes me as too much detail since 1) that info is likely to get out of date since it's for other projects, 2) the purpose of this page is to discuss the English Wikivoyage social media presence, and 3) someone wishing to get involved with social media in another Wikivoyage language version should go to the corresponding project for guidance. -- Ryan • (talk) • 23:03, 15 January 2015 (UTC)

(edit conflict) Ok Saqib, if you prefer two separate tables, I'll create here a draft of them. Give me few minutes. PS As Ryan I'm in doubt too regarding the admin info. --Andyrom75 (talk) 23:06, 15 January 2015 (UTC)

Agree with Ryan's point. Ryan's version restored. It reminded me of one saying in Punjabi languages which translates something like "Where there is ..., there comes …." --Saqib (talk) 23:11, 15 January 2015 (UTC)

Wikivoyage social network account table

Here below few layout of the table that collect all the Wikivoyage social network account in every available languages.

Please choose the one that you prefer most. PS I haven't made the Two tables without admin column version because in my opinion it doesn't make so much sense. --Andyrom75 (talk) 23:30, 15 January 2015 (UTC)

One table with admin column

Site	Languages	Account administrator(s)
Facebook	de: Facebook en: Facebook he: Facebook it: Facebook pt: Facebook zh: Facebook	N/A JamesA, AndreCarrotflower, Nicholasjf21 N/A Andyrom75, Lkcl it N/A N/A
Twitter (see also)	en: Twitter it: Twitter	Saqib, Nicholasjf21 Andyrom75, Lkcl it
Google+	de: Google+	N/A

One table without admin column

First version	Second version	Third version
Site Languages Facebook de: Facebook en: Facebook he: Facebook it: Facebook pt: Facebook zh: Facebook Twitter (see also) en: Twitter it: Twitter Google+ de: Google+	Site (en) Other languages Facebook de: Facebook he: Facebook it: Facebook pt: Facebook zh: Facebook Twitter (see also) it: Twitter Google+ de: Google+	Site English Other languages Facebook en: Facebook de: Facebook he: Facebook it: Facebook pt: Facebook zh: Facebook Twitter (see also) en: Twitter it: Twitter Google+ N/A de: Google+

Two tables with admin column

English site	Account administrator(s)
Facebook	JamesA, AndreCarrotflower, Nicholasjf21
Twitter (see also)	Saqib, Nicholasjf21

Site	Other languages	Account administrator(s)
Facebook	de: Facebook he: Facebook it: Facebook pt: Facebook zh: Facebook	N/A N/A Andyrom75, Lkcl it N/A N/A
Twitter (see also)	it: Twitter	Andyrom75, Lkcl it
Google+	de: Google+	N/A

I like the version that's current live on the page (three columns with English admins), but there is a desire for a change then the "two tables with admin column" version above would be my second choice. -- Ryan • (talk) • 02:36, 16 January 2015 (UTC)

I think the current live version is not clear regarding "who admin what", so I would change it with one of the above alternatives (other ideas are more than welcome). I'm fine with the "two tables with admin column", however IMO the admin info are not essential, so I like also the third version of "One table without admin column". --Andyrom75 (talk) 08:03, 16 January 2015 (UTC)

See #Add names of account owners to this page - we absolutely need to provide information about the admins of the English social media platforms somewhere on the page. -- Ryan • (talk) • 15:23, 16 January 2015 (UTC)

Ok, in this case we can use "two tables with admin column" as you said. --Andyrom75 (talk) 09:43, 17 January 2015 (UTC)

I created the Russian version at FB, https://www.facebook.com/ruwikivoyage . (I am so far the only admin).--Ymblanter (talk) 15:09, 17 January 2015 (UTC)

I'm fine with two tables with admin column. Hello Ymblanter. Remember me ? Good to see you created the page and I hope you also contributing to Russian Wikivoyage. --Saqib (talk) 15:39, 17 January 2015 (UTC)

Sure, I am one of the contributors there.--Ymblanter (talk) 15:51, 17 January 2015 (UTC)

Ok, at this point I'll replace the current table with the one above, adding the ru:voy link. --Andyrom75 (talk) 14:41, 18 January 2015 (UTC)

Done. Ymblanter Would you like to create a similar page on ru:voy? --Andyrom75 (talk) 14:48, 18 January 2015 (UTC)

Yes, I will do it later this week. Thanks for adding me to the list.--Ymblanter (talk) 10:36, 19 January 2015 (UTC)

My pleasure ;-) --Andyrom75 (talk) 16:35, 19 January 2015 (UTC)

Done--Ymblanter (talk) 12:20, 21 January 2015 (UTC)

Recommended social media posts

@JamesA, AndreCarrotflower, Nicholasjf21, Saqib:. Currently our Facebook page is only used for announcing the change of DOTM on the front page. It would be nice to see that expanded. Would having a "suggested social media posts" page be useful? I imagine we would get more interest if we posted interesting travel facts (Wikivoyage:Discover would be a good source of info) and interacted more with other Wikimedia projects. One suggestion I'd make currently is that we should definitely share the "2.5 billion edits" post that Wikimedia just put up, since that's a huge milestone that includes our project:

https://www.facebook.com/wikipedia/posts/10153446682588346:0

-- Ryan • (talk) •

Thanks for the suggestion, Ryan. I've gone ahead and shared the Wikipedia post which is a fantastic milestone. Unfortunately, one of the issues with our page is that AndreCarrotflower is the only one of us who really regularly updates it, even if it is just the DOTM/OTBP/FTTs. I like the idea of expanding it out with other relevant posts. We shouldn't post every day, but every 2-3 days is a good amount. Possibly we could come up with these posts in advance, and schedule one or two of them in between our regular DOTM posts? Posts which also encourage responses and involvement are also a good idea, such as trivia questions or asking for opinions. Do you have Facebook, Ryan, as you are welcome to become a page admin? James A ▪ talk 11:14, 11 August 2015 (UTC)

Yes, I would very much appreciate some more participation on the WV Facebook page. I've been following the example Powers set as administrator of pre-fork WT's Facebook page in posting mostly Dotm/OtBP/FTTs. It does seem like a good idea to expand the scope of what's addressed on our FB page, but it's a bit more than I can handle alone. -- AndreCarrotflower (talk) 13:48, 11 August 2015 (UTC)

JamesA - yes, I'm on Facebook, and Andre has my account details. If you guys want help then I'm happy to assist in administering the page. Barring objection I'll put together a proposed page for scheduling social media posts as soon as time permits, unless someone else beats me to it - I think a Facebook page that generates content that users are more likely to share and "like" would be a very useful tool for promoting the site, and another way to help build community. -- Ryan • (talk) • 14:12, 11 August 2015 (UTC)

I'm not an admin of the Facebook page (at least I don't think so!), but would be very happy to assist if I can. I definitely agree that we should try to reach out more - a broader social media presence would be great. --Nick ^talk 22:23, 11 August 2015 (UTC)

First draft of a nomination page: Wikivoyage:Social media/Nominations, using Template:SocialNom. I would imagine we'll need different fields and formats, but this should hopefully be enough to get the discussion moving. -- Ryan • (talk) • 03:14, 12 August 2015 (UTC)

I'm happy to be an admin or moderator on the FB page; I believe Andre's found my contact info. Powers ^(talk) 23:20, 18 August 2015 (UTC)

Ryan has been added as an admin to the Facebook page and the list of admins. I'd be happy for you to be added too, Powers, considering your experience with the original page. If Andre's busy and doesn't get around to it, send me an email and I can process it as well. James A ▪ talk 08:56, 19 August 2015 (UTC)

As a side note, our Twitter hasn't been very active as of lately. ϒpsilon (talk) 09:21, 19 August 2015 (UTC)

I also noticed the lack of activity lately. I've become more of an expert on Twitter, so if Nicholasjf21 or Saqib wanted to add me as an admin on the page, I'd be happy to assist. I saw a few posts the other day that would've been good to retweet, but alas, I don't have access! James A ▪ talk 09:30, 19 August 2015 (UTC)

I use Twitter quite a bit in my professional life. I'm also happy to try and promote the account as well. Andrewssi2 (talk) 10:25, 19 August 2015 (UTC)

@Wikivoyage on Twitter

Swept in from the pub

Looking at the Wikivoyage Twitter account, it seems that there have been no tweets (not including retweets) since 29 August 2015 (almost five months ago) with the last retweet being on 8 October 2015. The WV:Social media page says that User:Saqib, User:Nicholasjf21 and User:JamesA are the users running the account, and reading Wikivoyage talk:Social media/Twitter I realise that they are busy and can't always do it. But I'm just wondering whether there's anyway of getting the account more active, because I would think that Twitter would be a great way of making Wikivoyage more well know. Thanks.  Seagull123  Φ  19:54, 16 January 2016 (UTC)

It would be great to start tweeting our DOTM, as well as a mechanism to tweet articles that has been significantly updated. --Andrewssi2 (talk) 22:32, 16 January 2016 (UTC)

@Andrewssi2, Saqib, Nicholasjf21, JamesA: Is there any further information about the Twitter account? I seriously think that the account could be a great way of getting Wikivoyage out there.  Seagull123  Φ  22:20, 31 January 2016 (UTC)

I don't have access to the account, but check out Wikivoyage:Social_media/Twitter --Andrewssi2 (talk) 22:51, 31 January 2016 (UTC)

User:Seagull123: I have been making regular tweets last year but I'm sorry now I don't have really interest in Twitter. So yes you're most welcome to use it but I'm afraid I cannot get you log-in details. I suggest you to to contact User:Nicholasjf21. --Saqib (talk) 09:06, 1 February 2016 (UTC)

I would suggest putting a strategy together first. To build up a good presence on Twitter you obviously have to keep up a regular tweets and respond to referrals, otherwise you will lose momentum.

We actually do have a good supply of guide articles ready to deploy, and we should be responding (tastefully) to events in the news, for example today we could highlight Myanmar as the new pro-democracy parliament sits today. Iowa for the presidential candidate debates, Melbourne for the Australian Tennis Open. Andrewssi2 (talk) 09:44, 1 February 2016 (UTC)

I do have access to the account and could give an administrator or a user approved by the community access to the account. Unfortunately, I'm pretty stretched for time these days so can only contribute to the wiki intermittently and have no time for our Twitter. Ping me again if it's decided to give the login details to someone :) James A ▪ talk 20:45, 1 February 2016 (UTC)

(undent) I understand that you're all busy, so I understand why there haven't been many tweets (although the account does look pretty good). So maybe we could find someone who has enough time to do regular tweets and responses who could help with the Twitter account. Do we know anyone on WV who could do this?  Seagull123  Φ  16:04, 6 February 2016 (UTC)

Suggestion for Twitter - quick and easy fix (I guess)

Swept in from the pub

Our Twitter seems to have become largely dormant. I suggest the following Quick and easy fix in absence of anything more elaborate that would need more resources. Let's just have it tweet our "discovers" with links once they enter the discover main page. Thus far we have always produced enough discover sniplets and it may be able to be implemented with an automated system. What do you think? I think it's better than nothing, absent an enthusiastic user manning our Twitter handle... Hobbitschuster (talk) 21:50, 10 April 2016 (UTC)

@Hobbitschuster: This idea sounds good, as it only needs someone to copy and paste the sniplets (I like that word) into Twitter, and having just checked, most of the ones at the bottom of WV:Discover are under 140 characters.  Seagull123  Φ  21:32, 17 April 2016 (UTC)

@Hobbitschuster: @Seagull123: I usually tweet using the italian Wikivoyage Twitter account (with only few followers). I can suggest to schedule tweet using tweetdeck: in an hour it's possible to schedule many tweets (especially if you already have the text to copy and paste) and then you don't have to remember daily/weekly to post a new tweet. I hope to have been useful. --Lkcl it _(Talk) 18:49, 20 April 2016 (UTC)

Thanks. Anybody else got an opinion on that? Ikan? Hobbitschuster (talk) 19:24, 20 April 2016 (UTC)

I don't really have an opinion, except that if you'd like to handle the Twitter account, great! Ikan Kekek (talk) 00:48, 21 April 2016 (UTC)

@Lkcl_it, Hobbitschuster: The idea of scheduling tweets sounds good, as then it lessens the workload of anyone using the account even more than just copy and pasting from Discover daily.  Seagull123  Φ  21:10, 20 April 2016 (UTC)

Calling all administrators of Wikivoyage's Facebook page

Swept in from the pub

I'm posting this in the pub for higher visibility.

For various reasons, I recently temporarily deactivated my Facebook account. Before I did, I wrote up the three links and blurbs that our Facebook page usually posts every month for our DotM/OtBP/FTT candidates, and scheduled them to be posted on February 1st, 11th, and 21st, respectively, under the assumption that I'd be back on Facebook by the time March rolls around.

I was recently signed on to my alternate Facebook account, which remains activated but is not listed as an admin of our Facebook page. I noticed that the Facebook post that I'd scheduled to go live today sometime during the 5:00PM US EST hour, announcing Hobart as this month's DotM, hasn't appeared yet. Can someone who's an admin sign on and confirm that the three posts I wrote up weren't somehow deleted when I deactivated my Facebook?

Pinging Ryan, who I know is an admin; I'm not sure who else is.

-- AndreCarrotflower (talk) 23:10, 1 February 2017 (UTC)

Your post was scheduled to go live at 4:47 PM Pacific, so I've changed that to "publish now" and it is now live. A note to anyone who has suggestions for Facebook posts: please place those suggestions at Wikivoyage:Social media/Nominations. -- Ryan • (talk) • 00:06, 2 February 2017 (UTC)

Wikivoyage on Facebook

Swept in from the pub

Ryan's apparently indefinite hiatus has included his resignation as an administrator for Wikivoyage's official Facebook page, leaving me as the only remaining active one. It probably shouldn't be that way. Does anyone else want in? -- AndreCarrotflower (talk) 00:40, 12 August 2017 (UTC)

Anyone? -- AndreCarrotflower (talk) 00:33, 13 August 2017 (UTC)

Just curious given that I haven't checked out the WV FB page. How busy is it? --Andrewssi2 (talk) 02:51, 13 August 2017 (UTC)

I enjoy commenting on and liking the WV FB page posts. The workload seems manageable (three posts a month, one each on DOTM, OTBP and FTT). I can commit as long as there are other people available as a backup. My editing patterns are unpredictable and I cannot guarantee being active on the 2nd, 12th and 22nd of every month (which is when the posts seem to be made). Gizza ^(roam) 03:54, 14 August 2017 (UTC)

It's not a problem for me to continue to update the DotM/OtBP/FTT posts on our Facebook page. Ideally, though, these shouldn't be the only things our Facebook account posts. Wikivoyage:Social media prescribes that "posts may include... major feature updates to Wikivoyage and other interesting travel news or activities", and to that end there is a nominations page where we're supposed to suggest tidbits that might be rebroadcast on our social media accounts, but it hasn't seen any use for some time. -- AndreCarrotflower (talk) 04:32, 14 August 2017 (UTC)

Hmmm good point. The WT Facebook article (with more likes and followers than us) posts blog and news articles related to travel too. Maybe we can do that and/or post quotes that inspire people to travel. Another option is to post more content directly from WV other than one of the three usuals but would still need to be of high quality (ideally at least a guide) and relevant in some way. Gizza ^(roam) 13:10, 23 August 2017 (UTC)

I'd be happy to admin the FB page. I was doing WT before the migration. Powers ^(talk) 01:22, 6 September 2017 (UTC)

Just in case the above didn't get seen while it was in the Pub, I will bring attention to it again. Powers ^(talk) 01:07, 17 November 2017 (UTC)

Powers, I somehow missed the above message. If you're still interested, please send a private message to the Wikivoyage page on Facebook and I'll give you admin status. -- AndreCarrotflower (talk) 22:35, 11 December 2017 (UTC)

Powers, I've received your admin request. If you haven't already, please check your private message folder on Facebook (including the "Connection requests" section). -- AndreCarrotflower (talk) 07:04, 31 December 2017 (UTC)

Medium

I just found out that i own @Wikivoyage at Medium. I think it was probably about the same time I was doing twitter for wikivoyage. Anyway - I don't think Medium is ever going to be a forum for Wikivoyage stuff, so I was thinking of deleting it. Anyone with a contrary opinion speak now - or forever.. Inas (talk) 05:02, 19 December 2017 (UTC)

Telegram channel for enwikivoyage

Swept in from the pub

Do you have a Telegram channel for English Wikivoyage? --Zerabat (talk) 15:47, 22 July 2018 (UTC)

Seems unnecessary since the service has seen a steep decline over the last 10-15 years. ArticCynda (talk) 22:12, 22 July 2018 (UTC)

Some of our articles still use it - ocean liners and RMS Titanic, for instance, and the whole heritage railways topic is steam-powered. K7L (talk) 23:35, 22 July 2018 (UTC)

I suspect that Zerbat is talking about https://telegram.org/ rather than old-fashioned telegrams. WhatamIdoing (talk) 23:57, 22 July 2018 (UTC)

Yes, you suspected right. There's no way I'd be talking about telegraphy nowadays. But by the way, it is still used to send private injunctions (legal stuff...), at least in some countries. Do you have a Telegram messenger group or feed? --Zerabat (talk) 00:20, 23 July 2018 (UTC)

It looks like a random messaging app abusing a well-known word. Is it big enough that you cannot ignore it or is there some specific reason to endorse it? --LPfi (talk) 10:53, 23 July 2018 (UTC)

The unfortunate naming will be too easily confused with telegraphy indeed, so I'd suggest choosing a more "universal" tool like IRC or XMPP (Jitsi, Pidgin etc.) that most people will know. However, I don't think there is a real need for this, the pub seems to be a better place to centralize discussions. ArticCynda (talk) 11:17, 23 July 2018 (UTC)

Why no instagram page?

Does anyone know why Wikivoyage doesn't have an official instagram, account? SHB2000 (talk) 10:43, 23 March 2021 (UTC)

Wikivoyage Instagram Page

Swept in from the pub

I noticed we have a facebook and a twitter wikivoyage page. And I get it, facebook and twitter are the most popular social media sites. However, in the past few years, the younger society (e.g. Gen Z and Millennials) tend to use more Instagram than FB or Twitter. And being a millennial myself, I and many others that I know, do not use Facebook or Twitter as well. And while I appreciate that no other major wikivoyage has an instagram page, I'm sure that half of us probably use or have Instagram.

When the way society changes, so do we. And only using Facebook and Twitter might mean less readers to Wikivoyage. We wouldn't be using a 1998 software wouldn't we, but rather a 2017 or later. And I think we should also have one.

And I'm only suggesting that we do posts, and not create travel related tik tok videos on reels, or do any advertising on reels. Just what we did on FB and twitter.

And while I appreciate that Instagram prevents you from posting from a desktop, there is a way, and I know how to do this. (email me if you want to know) And if no one is willing to do the job, I'm more than happy to manage the page.

SHB2000 (talk | contribs | en.wikipedia) 12:12, 24 May 2021 (UTC)

In principle it's a good idea, but where would the photos come from and what would they show? Are you thinking of photos of destinations we cover (perhaps featured articles/star articles etc), or pictures of the articles themselves (e.g. demos of listing editor, maps etc)? Have you thought about how the copyright would work? --ThunderingTyphoons! (talk) 12:28, 24 May 2021 (UTC)

We do this with the WV facebook and twitter page - could do the same with those. SHB2000 (talk | contribs | en.wikipedia) 12:30, 24 May 2021 (UTC)

The last post at https://www.facebook.com/wikivoyage.org was over 2 months ago. We missed a few DotMs, OtBPs, and FTTs. https://twitter.com/Wikivoyage hasn't been updated since mid 2018.

I have an Instagram account, but I rarely look at it. I think you meant Gen Z, not X, as "younger society". I'm X and certainly not young!

Anyway, it would be great to explore the various avenues available to spread the "gospel" of Wikivoyage, if we can keep posting new, fresh content. If we can restart regular updates on FB and Twitter, it may be a good idea to post links on the Main Page, similar to what's done at Wikivoyage:Social media. Nelson Ricardo (talk) 13:05, 24 May 2021 (UTC)

Sorry, yes I meant Gen Z. Was too tired and it's around 23:00 here. SHB2000 (talk | contribs | en.wikipedia) 13:08, 24 May 2021 (UTC)

What is the Instagram copyright policy? Do you have to give a license to them, on their terms? That would exclude pretty much everything except your own photos – which of course might be what they want (OK, Commons has many CC-zero and PD images, but still). –LPfi (talk) 13:47, 24 May 2021 (UTC)

"Strictly speaking, when users upload an image to Instagram, they do not forfeit their copyright. Instead, Instagram’s Terms of Use operate so as to give the social media platform a non-exclusive, fully paid and royalty-free transferable, sub-licence to use the content. This means that Instagram can license images from the site to others – including other Instagram users who can ‘regram’ images (repost photos) from accounts that they follow without infringing copyright." That is -- you retain copyright, which you can release under a free license. Vaticidalprophet (talk) 15:25, 24 May 2021 (UTC)

You might be interested in seeing what others are dong: m:Social media. WhatamIdoing (talk) 20:15, 24 May 2021 (UTC)

On copyright and social media, I'd point to this Meta-Wiki page that the Wikimedia Foundation's legal team updated last year. The ed17 (talk) 21:04, 24 May 2021 (UTC)

A good idea in theory as others have said but deciding what we should use it for (as well as not running into any copyright issues) is the challenging part. The ideal images to showcase on social media would be our banners, but Instagram's aspect ratio is markedly different to the aspect ratio of the banners. If we had enough active and capable editors, ideally we would have our own YouTube channel. I believe there is a user on the Chinese Wikivoyage who has a small channel but we don't have an English one. Gizza ^(roam) 02:41, 25 May 2021 (UTC)

┌────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘ @DaGizza: - I've had this issue of sizing while posting. But Insta gives you the option to zoom out, - even out of the image. SHB2000 (talk | contribs | en.wikipedia) 08:28, 25 May 2021 (UTC)

As they don't seem to accept any copyleft licences, they won't get any of my pictures (unless I especially make some available for the purpose). And as the licence they require is a custom one, it is unlikely that it is covered by any licences on Commons, except PD and CC-zero where applicable. –LPfi (talk) 07:53, 29 May 2021 (UTC)

LPfi, are you sure you read that right? You completely retain your copyright for images released to Instagram, and can release it however you want; Instagram's licensing is simply so that people can share images within the website without violating all-rights-reserved copyrights, as for any other social media site. Vaticidalprophet (talk) 20:10, 31 May 2021 (UTC)

@Vaticidalprophet: The Instagram user retains their copyright, but they are required to license the photo to Instagram, and to third parties, under the Instagram licence. If you upload my photo to Instagram, it could be published somewhere else without any mention of the CC-BY-SA licence I demand to be mentioned when my photos are used. –LPfi (talk) 08:28, 4 June 2021 (UTC)

Twitter

Is this the official Twitter page and if so, is anyone looking after it currently? The last tweet was in 2018 :O https://twitter.com/wikivoyage Crookesmoor (talk) 16:41, 6 October 2022 (UTC)

Potential Discord server

Swept in from the pub

Hey guys! I'm wondering if there would be interest in a Discord server for Wikivoyage. I would like to create one but if there is no interest I won't worry about it.

Leave a reply to say if you're interest or not :)

Thanks! JustThatNerdyNerd (talk) 07:40, 19 February 2024 (UTC)

I'd be open to having a Discord server for Wikivoyage (anything is better than the old-school IRC shit), but my instincts suggest that it will be a dead server. --SHB2000 (talk | contribs | meta) 07:49, 19 February 2024 (UTC)

That was my immediate thought. I might create one and post it here, we'll see how it goes. Currently the IRC channel has 9 people so the bar is set very low for dead. JustThatNerdyNerd (talk) 07:50, 19 February 2024 (UTC)

Do wait for the community to decide whether it wants a Discord server or not, though. --SHB2000 (talk | contribs | meta) 08:03, 19 February 2024 (UTC)

I use Discord for other purpose and don't use IRC at all so would be interested in a WV Discord server. Gizza ^(roam) 12:47, 19 February 2024 (UTC)

It might also be your memory and not just your instincts? There's been a discussion about this almost exactly four years ago: WV:Travellers' pub/2020.

I've personally been involved with setting up that server, but I can't recall what happened to it in the long run. It wound up being a server that catered to all language varieties of Wikivoyage, which I think is why it never ended up being successful. No more than two dozen people ever joined, but none of them used the server. The server might be deleted now, or I left it at some point - Can't recall. I personally still remain in favour of setting up a Discord server for EN-Voyage though.
― Wauteurz (talk) 13:26, 19 February 2024 (UTC)

As a note, Spanish Wikivoyage has a channel on the Spanish server. Instead of creating a new server, it might be good to request a channel on the English server or I'll be happy to set up a general Wikivoyage category on the Spanish server, whatever you want. Galahad (sasageyo!)^(esvoy) 15:17, 19 February 2024 (UTC)

I might just stick to making a new one as the En Wikipedia server is just soooo noisy. Plus then if we need extra channels then we're just cluttering up their server. I'll whip something up and share it here :) JustThatNerdyNerd (talk) 20:06, 19 February 2024 (UTC)

It would be no problem for me to create an exclusive category for Wikivoyage in the spanish server. In any case, you should first consult with the entire Wikivoyage community if they are interested before creating a server of such caliber. Galahad (sasageyo!)^(esvoy) 03:22, 21 February 2024 (UTC)

Let's start with en. If necessary, we can add more channels or a new server for Spanish or any other dominant language. JustThatNerdyNerd (talk) 20:07, 19 February 2024 (UTC)

I was just wondering why the server disappeared fwiw; appears to have been deleted. 𝟙𝟤𝟯𝟺𝐪𝑤𝒆𝓇𝟷𝟮𝟥𝟜𝓺𝔴𝕖𝖗𝟰 (𝗍𝗮𝘭𝙠) 23:19, 27 February 2024 (UTC)

New Discord Server!

Swept in from the pub

So you may or may not have seen the chat Potential Discord server, but in a nutshell, there was enough interest to where I have created a Discord server for the Wikivoyage community!

You MUST be authenticated with WikiAuthBot to be able to talk in the server. I believe I've set everything up right but if a few permissions are weird or you can't talk let me know. If there's enough interest I might see if I can get WikiBot invited (the one that provides links when you type [[article name]]).

Please note this is very primitive, really it is more of a trial. I have no emojis rn but feel free to DM me with suggestions.

Linking the IRC channel to the server is something I want to do but I just don't have the skill level. If anyone can assist please DM me :)

You can join at https:// discord.gg/APwpsVcM6R (I could have a hyperlink because of the spam filter).

If you are a Wikivoyage Admin, please request to have that role added. All Wikivoyage Admins will be automatically considered moderators. If you so desperately wish not to be a mod, please DM me and I will remove that role. If you believe you can be a moderator, and aren't an admin already, that's alright! You can DM me to apply, but please attach some proof you are fit for the job (i.e. proof of moderating other servers & references (preferably Wikivoyage Admins) so I can make sure you won't vandalise the server).

Thanks! JustThatNerdyNerd (talk) 05:51, 20 February 2024 (UTC)

I won't be frequenting this server, so if my input is desired, post a link to the relevant discussion somewhere. I'm not sure what the purpose of the server is. Ikan Kekek (talk) 06:01, 20 February 2024 (UTC)

That's ok :)

I made the server to chat about anything we would do so in here or on IRC, because I know some people (myself included) prefer talking on Discord. People can also ask editing/tourist questions or talk off-topic.

You shouldn't miss too much!

Thanks! JustThatNerdyNerd (talk) 06:24, 20 February 2024 (UTC)

I too won't be joining the server as it currently stands, but I may consider joining if a few other established users also join. --SHB2000 (talk | contribs | meta) 10:32, 20 February 2024 (UTC)