Frieda Brioschi is a computer programming expert based in Arcore, Italy, but she dedicates over 25 hours each week to editing content for this free online encyclopedia in her native language.
Brioschi is one of thousands of passionate individuals who want to participate in curating Wikipedia by verifying data, rewriting, correcting grammar and spelling, or monitoring changes to entries. For her, Wikipedia is an evolving dictionary system, akin to “Darwinian theory,” gradually developing and improving as erroneous articles are deleted or corrected.
Volunteers like Brioschi have helped transform Wikipedia into a global “information phenomenon.” The site contains over 2.6 billion articles in 200 different languages and attracts 2 billion visitors each month. The content is entirely “created” by volunteers or anyone who feels compelled to contribute to this vast repository of information. In December alone, readers added 45,000 entries to the English version.
Wikipedia, one of the most famous brands online, was founded by Jimmy Wales, 39. Although it is always on the radar of marketers, the site does not accept advertising logos, and Wales has no intention of monetizing it in this way anytime soon. “We are not sure how those advertisements would affect our image and brand,” Wales said.
Recently, Wikipedia has faced several challenges. In November, a former assistant to John F. Kennedy, who is also a renowned journalist in the U.S., discovered that his biography on Wiki suggested he was suspected of involvement in the assassination of the Kennedy brothers. Additionally, many critics are concerned that as this brand gains popularity and credibility, the site will inevitably become a target in various campaigns. Following some scandals, Wales has tightened control over and restricted misleading information.
Since its establishment in 2001, Wikipedia has become the largest reference information source in history. The English version currently contains about 800,000 entries, while the Britannica encyclopedia has less than 120,000 entries. Despite developing under a “free editing” policy, Robert McHenry, the former editor-in-chief of Britannica, describes Wikipedia as a “reliable dictionary.” A study conducted by the British journal Nature also confirmed that Wikipedia’s accuracy is nearly comparable to that of Britannica (123 errors in Britannica and 162 inaccuracies in Wikipedia when comparing 50 articles on scientific topics).
The most crucial factor for Wikipedia’s success is that it inspires and engages readers to participate. Even Wales acts as a volunteer for the Wikipedia Foundation, a non-profit organization based in St. Petersburg, Florida, USA. The organization’s management consists of only three salaried administrative staff, two assistants, and one software engineer. All content and editing efforts are the work of enthusiastic individuals from around the globe. Some “Wiki residents” contribute software to Wikipedia, known as “bots.” For example, Pfft Bot tags ambiguous sentences, GrammarGremlin alerts users to syntax errors, and Kakashi Bot automatically changes errors like “Seychelles” into “the Seychelles.”
Alongside Wikipedia, Wales is developing plans to expand further. Many volunteers are collecting information for Wiktionary, a multilingual conceptual dictionary. Fans of famous quotes are helping to create Wikiquote, a database of notable sayings in 30 languages. In the Wikibooks project, anyone can comment or discuss textbooks. The organization is also taking initial steps for the Wikinews program, which compiles and organizes news by news agencies like BBC of the UK, Xinhua of China, etc. Wales aims to develop a source of information that “does not lean toward subjective judgments,” but he also admits that journalists (or Wikinewsies) sometimes reveal their personal opinions, especially when writing about topics like Israel or U.S. President George W. Bush.
To fund these projects, Wales is seeking sponsorship. Readers contributed $1 million last year. Major investors like Yahoo provided servers and $250,000 in April 2005. In 2004, Wales launched a business called Wikicities, which offers hosting services for websites with content themed around antiques, beer, etc. Wikicities is also built by volunteers but is allowed to post advertisements, and the revenue from this independent company supports a significant portion of Wikipedia’s maintenance.
Wales has no intention of expanding the management team, which currently consists of fewer than 10 people, or investing funds to operate the site. Instead, he wants to use the resources obtained to publish free Wiki DVDs for impoverished areas lacking internet access.
