FIFTEEN years ago , on January 15th, 2001, Wikipedia was founded by two internet pioneers, Jimmy Wales and Larry Sanger. Today Wikipedia is the tenth most popular website in the world, with versions available in some 280 languages containing around 35m articles. Wikipedia is an ever-evolving manifestation of its creators’ desire to preserve and compile knowledge.
Wikipedia, which is written and edited by volunteers, was an early social network. Wikipedia saw that the knowledge economy was heading online. In 2012 the “Encyclopedia Britannica” stopped printing and is now only available in digital form. Wikipedia showed the importance of network effects to online ventures: the more people use Wikipedia and write entries, the more helpful it has become.
Like any powerful and popular internet property, Wikipedia has attracted controversy, as well as accolades .
Wikipedia has other challenges with which to reckon. Unlike for-profit social networks, it does not make money from advertising and depends on financial contributions from users to keep it running (not to mention volunteers to edit). The Wikipedia community is notoriously unwelcoming newcomers. It remains an ongoing challenge to recruit participants from different backgrounds and countries. English-language Wikipedia is by far the most read; other sites need more attention to expand their offerings and increase their popularity. Wikipedia has built up a trove of information and become an invaluable resource to anyone with an internet connection.
Based on an article in The Economist.
