An edit-a-thon (sometimes written editathon) is an event where some editors of online communities such as Wikipedia, OpenStreetMap (also known as a "mapathon"), and LocalWiki edit and improve a specific topic or type of content. The events typically include basic editing training for new editors and may be combined with a more general social meetup.
The word is a portmanteau of "edit" and "marathon". An edit-a-thon can either be "in-person" or online or a blended version of both. If it is not in-person, it is usually called a "virtual edit-a-thon" or "online edit-a-thon".
Women, African Americans, and members of the LGBT community are using edit-a-thons to bridge the gap in Wikipedia's sexual and racial makeup[9] and to challenge the under-representation of Africa-related topics.[10]
The "Wiki loves SDGs" initiative held a week-long online edit-a-thon on topics around the Sustainable Development Goals. The event took place online in September 2020 during Global Goals Week. It was organized by Project Everyone, an NGO in the UK, and had around 300 registered participants, 108 active contributors and 64 new editors. Most of the participants were from developing countries and seven out of the nine prize winners were from Africa. The event focused on improving SDG-related content on the English Wikipedia (some improvements were also made to the Spanish, Macedonian,[13] Catalan and Portuguese Wikipedias). About 500 articles were improved.[14][circular reference]Jimmy Wales attended the closing ceremony and presented the nine awards to the most engaged volunteers.[15]
Since 2014, Art+Feminism has held world-wide edit-a-thons annually to expand the histories of women, feminism, and arts found on Wikipedia, and to dismantle the biases on how women are represented online. 2019 marks the expansion of the movement to include "gender non-binary activists and artists".[18]
The global Ada Lovelace Day Edit-a-thon, an initiative to improve the diversity of Wikipedia articles, was co-created by Carol Ann Whitehead and Google Expert, Susan Dolan. It took place on October 9, 2019,[19] in Manchester at The Pankhurst Centre.[20][21][22]
The 72 horas con Rodin edit-a-thon in Mexico City is the longest ever held, recognized by Guinness World Records.
Cross section of participants at the Igbo Wiktionary virtual edit-a-thon in August 2020
Attendees at the 2013 Women in the Arts Edit-a-thon in Washington, DC
Foster, Mike (18 October 2013). "Fall 2013 OpenStreetMap Editathon". Massachusetts Institute of Technology Department of Urban Studies and Planning. Archived from the original on 8 April 2014. Retrieved 7 April 2014.
