Wikipedia says traffic is falling due to AI search summaries and social video

Post by wiredpancake » Tue, Oct 21, 2025, 10:57 PM UTC

Okx wrote: post #52

al_borland wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Become self sustaining through investments so it can live for 1000 years. I always wondered why more companies or organizations didn’t do this. Pile up money during the good years to allow themselves to not need continued outside income to keep going, so they can do what is right instead of compromising their vision for the sake of hitting quarterly earnings. That isn’t to say they can’t keep making money, but do i…

Unfortunately, Wikipedia doesn't seem interested in this. Their revenue is more than enough be able to invest and sustain the site forever, but they just increase expenses on non-core outgoings https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WP:CANCER

Post by boringg » Tue, Oct 21, 2025, 11:07 PM UTC

irjustin wrote: post #3

I'll go out on a limb and say we _need_ Wikipedia and it's okay that traffic falls. Physical print encyclopedias got replaced by Wikipedia, but AI isn't a replacement (can't ever see how either). While AI is a method of easier access for the end user, the purpose of Wikipedia stands on its own. I've always scoffed at the Wikimedia Foundation's warchest and continuously increasing annual spending. I say now is the tim…

Post by myth_drannon » Tue, Oct 21, 2025, 11:22 PM UTC

babelfish wrote: post #111

intended wrote: post #63

I’m a pro-market solution person, but markets are a tool. This is the kind of capitalistic behavior that is repugnant to our idea of how things should work. This is not what the commons is for - taking the work of creators, repackaging it, and using platform capability to re-sell it. At this point, I am coming around to the argument that governments should make their own local/national AI.

> At this point, I am coming around to the argument that governments should make their own local/national AI. I think this is a terrible idea. How do current Chinese-built LLMs respond when asked about Tianamen Square? How would American-built LLMs response when asked about Israel/Palestine?

Post by portaouflop » Tue, Oct 21, 2025, 11:25 PM UTC

kapone wrote: post #214

irjustin wrote: post #3

I'll go out on a limb and say we _need_ Wikipedia and it's okay that traffic falls. Physical print encyclopedias got replaced by Wikipedia, but AI isn't a replacement (can't ever see how either). While AI is a method of easier access for the end user, the purpose of Wikipedia stands on its own. I've always scoffed at the Wikimedia Foundation's warchest and continuously increasing annual spending. I say now is the tim…

That's a very naive view. WHAT should the Wikimedia foundation invest in, that's viable for a thousand years? That requires a Wall St/hedge fund and/or Buffett mindset. The Wikimedia foundation is none of those, and they're not big enough to make even a ripple in the investment landscape.

Post by delta_p_delta_x » Tue, Oct 21, 2025, 11:26 PM UTC

johnnyApplePRNG wrote: post #216

AI helped me realize why I have always read and referred to Wikipedia so little. Don't get me wrong. Wikipedia is a GREAT resource that the world absolutely needs. But it's a horribly boring "read" when it comes to human consumption. It's an encyclopedia. A list of facts. When I want to learn something about a particular topic, I rarely ever want to read a list of facts.