Has Wikipedia peaked? Was it just a fad? These are questions that people are asking today after an independent analysis found that activity over at the popular online encyclopedia has been declining. More specifically, editing has been down 20% while new account creation is down 30%. Wikipedia hasn’t bothered to update their statistics page for just about two years which is why the analysis was conducted independently.
So what does this mean? In my opinion, I see this as more of a natural decline. There is SO much information already available on Wikipedia and at some point, it was bound to drop. A drop in editing and new account creation doesn’t mean that Wikipedia’s growth has come to a halt by any means, nor does it mean that it was just a fad. I think the more important question to ask is how many people use Wikipedia as a “read-only” service and don’t contribute? I’m definitely one of those people. I’ve never once contributed, but I sure do read it and I think at this point, that’s how the majority of people will use Wikipedia.
The graph below from Compete.com shows us that Wikipedia’s traffic has actually increased over the last several months:
Beta News points out how this decline could also be from recent arguments among the site’s community. They write, “Those known as the “deletionsists” seem quick with the delete key and have high standards for “notability.” However “inclusionists” disagree, saying that articles shouldn’t be deleted quickly because they may be expanded later” It’s possible that the disagreement over what should and shouldn’t be included could be keeping some of their biggest contributors from adding new content to the site.
Wikipedia Moving
In other related news, Wikipedia is making the big move from Florida to San Francisco – the Technology capital of the U.S. They’ll make the move in January, and once they move, they plan to hire on more staff to add to the six full-time employees that they currently have. According to Florence Devouard, chair of the Wikimedia Foundation, “San Francisco is the center of high-tech in the United States and will give the foundation access to a rich array of resources.” Considering how long Wikipedia has been around, I’m surprised they didn’t make the move sooner. They join the long list of other tech companies who have left their homes to relocate in California.
Source: Reuters
Only 6 employees ouch!
Of course the number of edits are going down, all the corrupt companies are too afraid now of getting caught paying people to edit their pages and make them look good.
Why pay for more employees if that’s all you need?
Good point! I had forgotten about the site that shows who made the edits! That could definitely be a reason.
Only 6 employees ouch!
Well, that’s because the fundamental policy is to grow by contributions by the people.
I’m a Windows fanboy and with Vista’s release, most of Windows related info is now updated on Wikipedia. I’m proud to say I’ve anonymously made many many contributions for many years.
“I’m surprised they didn’t make the move sooner.”
Yeah, no kidding. Companies should be clamoring to move to a socialistic, totalitarian state where the taxes are prohibitive.
Have you noticed that Kalifornia has had a net negative business migration over the last several years? The big mystery is actually why anybody or any company would remain in a place that penalizes entrepreneurship so harshly. Idaho, Oregon, Nevada, Utah, and Arizona certainly appreciate all of the leftard policies that Cali has instituted.