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Wikipedia survives while the rest of the internet breaks

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598 points leotravis10 | 4 comments | 04 Sep 25 15:30 UTC | HN request time: 0s | source
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bawolff ◴[04 Sep 25 16:49 UTC] No.45129304[source]▶
There has been this trend recently of calling Wikipedia the last good thing on the internet.

And i agree its great, i spend an inordinate amount of my time on Wikimedia related things.

But i think there is a danger here with all these articles putting Wikipedia too much on a pedestal. It isn't perfect. It isn't perfectly neutral or perfectly reliable. It has flaws.

The true best part of Wikipedia is that its a work in progress and people are working to make it a little better everyday. We shouldn't lose sight of the fact we aren't there yet. We'll never be "there". But hopefully we'll continue to be a little bit closer every day. And that is what makes Wikipedia great.

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1. adonovan ◴[05 Sep 25 02:03 UTC] No.45134322[source]▶
Agreed. It's funny how only a couple of years ago we all told schoolchildren "stop citing Wikipedia, anyone can edit it, read an actual book!" yet now in this benighted era of AI we urge them to consult Wikipedia for "the truth" because it's not the hallucination of a machine.

Yes, it has its flaws, but I plan to keep on editing and donating.

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2. nostromo ◴[05 Sep 25 04:41 UTC] No.45135020[source]▶
If you choose to donate, know that a small fraction of your donation goes to Wikipedia. Most of your donation goes to unrelated projects.

Wikipedia could function forever without another donation if they wanted to.

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3. SamBam ◴[05 Sep 25 16:26 UTC] No.45140393[source]▶
Source? (Particularly for that last part.)
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4. kayxspre ◴[05 Sep 25 17:16 UTC] No.45140989{3}[source]▶
Discussion about Wikipedia not actually being in financial jeopardy has been around for some time, and I remember reading about it at least once a year, during the donation banner season. Here are a few sources that discuss them.

[1] https://slate.com/technology/2022/12/wikipedia-wikimedia-fou...

[2] https://www.dailydot.com/news/wikipedia-endownemnt-fundraisi...

[3] https://archive.ph/CClQ6 (this is a Washington Post article. I'm using the Archived link as it's paywall-free)