New editor talk page study
All edits made from new accounts under the "Getting Started" process over a recent 24-hour period were listed, and the editors' talk pages were examined 5 weeks later to see what type of message, if any, had been added by then. The editors' contributions were classified according to their apparent value to the encyclopedia. The results were as follows:
| Talk page message | All | Positive contribution |
Neutral, no value or can't tell |
Negative contribution, not vandalism[1] |
Vandalism |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Welcome message | 77 (22%) | 28 (25%) | 20 (23%) | 20 (25%) | 9 (12%) |
| Invited to the Adventure | 73 (21%) | 23 (21%) | 19 (22%) | 17 (21%) | 14 (19%) |
| Invited to the Teahouse | 7 (2%) | 4 (4%) | 2 (2%) | 1 (0.6%) | 0 (0%) |
| Any welcome/invitation | 134 (38%) | 47 (42%) | 34 (39%) | 33 (41%) | 20 (27%) |
| Warned - by bot | 50 (14%) | 0 (0%) | 5 (6%) | 3 (4%) | 42 (57%) |
| Warned - by human | 51 (14%) | 1 (1%) | 3 (3%) | 10 (12%) | 37 (50%) |
| Any warning | 82 (23%) | 1 (1%) | 7 (8%) | 17 (21%) | 57 (77%) |
| Other | 27 (8%) | 6 (5%) | 2 (2%) | 11 (14%) | 8 (11%) |
| Nothing | 156 (44%) | 62 (55%) | 51 (58%) | 36 (44%) | 7 (9%) |
| Total | 355 (100%) | 112 (100%) | 88 (100%) | 81 (100%) | 74 (100%) |
- ^ Here are included unsourced opinion, blatant promotion, AGF factual mistakes, unintended damage to layout or format, etc.
Note: The percentages of talk page responses to different types of contribution can be compared by reading across the page; e.g. welcome messages went to 77 out of 355, or 22%, of all new accounts: to 28 out of 112, or 25%, of those making contributions of positive value; and to 9 out of 74, or 12%, of those making vandalistic edits.