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Happy 18th Birthday, Wikipedia (washingtonpost.com)

This week, Wikipedia celebrates its 18th birthday. If the massive crowdsourced encyclopedia project were human, then in most countries, it would just now be considered a legal adult. But in truth, the free online encyclopedia has long played the role of the Internet's good grown-up. From a story: Wikipedia has grown enormously since its inception: It now boasts 5.7 million articles in English and pulled in 92 billion page views last year. The site has also undergone a major reputation change. If you ask Siri, Alexa or Google Home a general-knowledge question, it will likely pull the response from Wikipedia. The online encyclopedia has been cited in more than 400 judicial opinions, according to a 2010 paper in the Yale Journal of Law & Technology.

Many professors are ditching the traditional writing assignment and instead asking students to expand or create a Wikipedia article on the topic. And YouTube Chief Executive Susan Wojcicki announced a plan last March to pair misleading conspiracy videos with links to corresponding articles from Wikipedia. Facebook has also released a feature using Wikipedia's content to provide users more information about the publication source for articles in their feed.

2 of 85 comments (clear)

  1. 18 Years of Pumping Jimmy Wales' Stocks by nagora · · Score: 0, Troll

    "The Internet doesn't need an encyclopaedia, it is an encyclopaedia. What it needs, is a decent index."

    WP is a shit idea done shittily.

    --
    "Encyclopedia" is to "Wikipedia" what "Library" is to "Some people at a bus stop"
  2. Re:Reminds me of an 18 year old by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Troll

    Yeah everything there is incorrect. Good emotional bullshit point derp.