Unpopular Opinions & Wild Ideas (Lightning Talk Meetup)
Speakers
Andrew Lih has been a contributor to Wikipedia since 2003 and serves as an administrator on both the English Wikipedia and Wikidata. He is the author of The Wikipedia Revolution (2009), a chronicle of the platform’s early history and growth.
He has played a leading role in fostering collaboration between the Wikimedia community and cultural heritage institutions. In the United States, he currently serves as Wikimedian at Large at the Smithsonian Institution, the world’s largest museum and research complex. He previously worked as a Wikimedia strategist at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, helping to integrate its open access collections into Wikidata and Wikimedia Commons.
In 2024, he led the GLAM CSI (Contributor Study Initiative) project at the Smithsonian, funded by the Wikimedia Foundation, to analyze and improve the technical contribution workflows and document key user experiences within the GLAM Wiki community. In recognition of his contributions, he was named one of the first Wikimedia Laureates in 2022 for his lifetime work in advancing the Wikimedia movement.
Abstract
Building on the success of the Wikimania 2025 version, this lightning talk meetup invites Wikimedians to share “unpopular opinions” or “wild ideas” about the movement’s future. Whether it’s appointing admins by lottery, removing old policies, or challenging longstanding governance beliefs, the goal is to stir the pot without spilling it.
This session encourages respectful disruption to spark deeper conversations. We are looking for:
- Ideas too bold for an RfC: Concepts needing a stage, not a survey.
- Global Perspectives: Exploring how a “radical” idea on one Wikipedia language edition might be common sense on a smaller project, and vice versa.
- Critiques with solutions: Radical fixes for persistent problems.
- Satire with a point: Using humor to address institutional hurdles.
Format & Participation: Each speaker gets 5 minutes. To ensure a truly global dialogue, we will prioritize a diverse mix of voices—balancing contributors from the Global North and Global South, and editors from projects of varying sizes. We want to hear from "fresh voices" as much as we do from longtime contributors.
Designed as an evening social gathering, this is a space to laugh, cringe, cheer, or quietly nod. You might not agree with every idea, but you’ll leave thinking differently.
The Rules: Be bold, be constructive, don’t be mean, and strictly abide by the Friendly Space Policy.
Additional information
I agree
* Freedom to imagine: By providing a platform for "unpopular opinions" and ideas too bold for a standard RfC, we uphold the right to challenge the status quo. We believe a healthy movement must be free enough to critique itself through satire, radical idealism, and respectful disruption. * Equity: By prioritizing a mix of Global North/Global South perspectives and small- and large-wiki editors, we bridge the gap between lived experiences. * Reliability: True reliability requires constant evolution. By inviting critiques that come with solutions, we aim to build more resilient, future-proof systems. This session shows that our community’s reliability is rooted in our ability to listen, adapt, and innovate together.
This session is designed to be an event for anyone in the movement, but there are some specific types for which the event will be ideal: * Strategy Enthusiasts: These are the Wikimedians who spend their time thinking about the Movement Strategy 2030, governance, and how our policies work. They will find this useful as a friendly space to test out radical ideas and suggestions. * Emerging Community: Those from smaller language wikis or the Global South may feel that global policies are written by and for the largest projects. This session provides a space to discuss alternatives that may better suit their unique needs. * Veterans: Longtime contributors who feel the movement has become too bureaucratic may find this useful as a pressure valve. It provides a cathartic, social space for venting and constructively embraces the "Be Bold" spirit of the Wikimedia movement.
We had a very successful and popular round of Unpopular Opinions at Wikimania 2025, with 16 speakers and a lively audience. This could easily scale to be larger, especially in the social hours. Link to previous session, including video: https://wikimania.wikimedia.org/wiki/2025:Program/Unpopular_Opinions:_Bold_Lightning_Talks_to_Shake_Up_Wikimedia
Everyone can participate in this session
Onsite in Paris