Technology

Is Wikipedia in decline? More evidence in

I previously blogged about how some of the key statistics for Wikipedia suggest the site is stagnating or declining. This picture is reinforced by new evidence:

A sharp drop in Wikipedians, the volunteers who write and edit the online encyclopaedia, is a disturbing and inevitable trend, the Toronto man who was once their top contributor said Monday.

“Losing volunteers is a sign that things could be better at Wikipedia,” Simon Pulsifer said during a break in his full-time job at a software company…

The core of devoted wikigeeks who spawned the phenomenon in 250 languages is dropping off more quickly than new volunteers are signing on, a group of Spanish researchers reported…

With a shrinking stable of contributors, Pulsifer sees Wikipedia evolving, in the next eight years, into an online resource where “a lot of articles will be locked down. The history of Wikipedia has been one of increasing barriers to changing articles.”

You can read more in the Toronto Star.

2 responses to “Is Wikipedia in decline? More evidence in”

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

All comments and data you submit with them will be handled in line with the privacy and moderation policies.