A Large-Scale Characterization of How Readers Browse Wikipedia

Despite the importance and pervasiveness of Wikipedia as one largest platforms for open knowledge, surprisingly little is known about how people navigate its content when seeking information. To bridge this gap, we present first systematic large-scale analysis readers browse Wikipedia. Using billions page requests from Wikipedia’s server logs, measure reach articles, they transition between these patterns combine into more complex navigation paths. We find that behavior characterized by highly diverse structures. Although most paths are shallow, comprising a single pageload, there much variety, depth shape vary systematically with topic, device type, time day. show commonly mesh external pages part larger online ecosystem, describe naturally occurring distinct targeted in lab-based settings. Our results further suggest abandoned low-quality pages. Taken together, insights contribute to understanding readers’ information needs allow improving their experience on Web general.