I could talk about technology as usual, but today I’m going to do something different. As we close the year, I want to highlight an organization that doesn’t get enough credit. How many times have you been on Wikipedia this year? Dozens? Hundreds of times perhaps?
Every poorly researched research paper, and verified scientific fact you get from them is ad- free thanks to the Wikimedia Foundation, thousands of donors who pay for it, and hundreds of thousands of volunteers who keep it accurate and spam-free though they’re payed in nothing but gratitude. Even the founder and head of the organization, Jim Wales doesn’t take a penny.. The tens of millions of articles in nearly 300 languages have a global reach, offering a source of information never possible before today. 365 million people, enough for one million people per day of the year, visit Wikipedia regularly, racking up billions of monthly pageviews.
“People take issue with individual aspects of Wikipedia all the time. But it’s kind of hard to hate the general idea of a free encyclopedia. It’s like hating kittens. “- Jimmy Wales
People of all occupations contribute to a global resource. Scientists, teachers, businessmen, and more have worked together to create a resource so vast that it covers everything from the smallest town to the largest known planet, and beyond. Wikipedia really is incredible in size, numbers, and in its’ existence and I’d like to highlight the work of the foundation today through sharing this video that they just posted showcasing a few of the fine folks who volunteer their time on Wikipedia. Enjoy.