We study how the coronavirus disease 2019 ( COVID-19 ) pandemic, alongside the severe mobility restrictions that ensued, has impacted information access on Wikipedia, the world's largest online encyclopedia. A longitudinal analysis that combines pageview statistics for 12 Wikipedia \WP language editions with mobility reports published by Apple and Google reveals a massive increase in access volume, accompanied by a stark shift in topical interests. Health- and entertainment- related topics are found to have gained, and sports- and transportation- related topics, to have lost attention   . Interestingly, while the interest in health-related topics was transient , that in entertainment topics is lingering and even increasing . These changes began at the time when mobility was restricted and are most pronounced for language editions associated with countries , in which the most severe mobility restrictions were implemented , indicating that the interest shift might be caused by people's spending more time at home\eg\hyp \hyp \hyp  . Our results highlight the utility of Wikipedia for studying reactions to the pandemic across the globe, and illustrate how the disease is rippling through society \WP  .
We study how the COVID-19 pandemic, alongside the severe mobility restrictions that ensued, has impacted information access on Wikipedia, the world's largest online encyclopedia. A longitudinal analysis that combines pageview statistics for 12 \WP language editions with mobility reports published by Apple and Google reveals massive shifts in thevolume and thenature of information seeking patterns amidst the pandemic . Interestingly, while we observe a transient increase in Wikipedia's pageview volume following mobility restrictions, the nature of information sought was impacted more permanently . These changes are most pronounced for language editions associated with countries in which the most severe mobility restrictions were implemented . We also find that articles belonging to different topics behaved differently;\eg, attention towards entertainment\hyp related topics is lingering and even increasing, while the interest in health\hyp and biology\hyp related topics was either small or transient . Our results highlight the utility of \WP for studying how the pandemic affected people's needs, interests, and concerns .
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coronavirus disease 2019 (
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)
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Wikipedia
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a massive increase in access volume, accompanied by a stark shift in topical interests. Health- and entertainment- related topics are found to have gained, and sports- and transportation- related topics, to have lost attention
massive shifts in the
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volume
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and the
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nature
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of information seeking patterns amidst the pandemic
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the interest in health-related topics was transient , that in entertainment topics is lingering and even increasing
we observe a transient increase in Wikipedia's pageview volume following mobility restrictions, the nature of information sought was impacted more permanently
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began at the time when mobility was restricted and
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,
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, indicating that the interest shift might be caused by people's spending more time at home
. We also find that articles belonging to different topics behaved differently;
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, attention towards entertainment
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related topics is lingering and even increasing, while the interest in health
A
and biology
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related topics was either small or transient
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Wikipedia for studying reactions to the pandemic across the globe, and illustrate how the disease is rippling through society
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for studying how the pandemic affected people's needs, interests, and concerns