“When you look something up on the internet these days, chances are you will be looking it up on Wikipedia. This internet encyclopedia has grown explosively…with its visitors doubling every 4 months.” (CBS)

The site was founded on the principle of free sharing of information, where anyone could share what they knew to help build the site.  

But since 2006, growth has slowed.  Several controversial incidents have sprouted up as well, raising the questions:  Who can really share and edit?  And what is Wikipedia’s future?

The Inquirer
writes… “Wikipedia is dying”.  And says that occasional editors entries are getting deleted by “mad” editors.

And Resource Shelf’s headline says: “After the boom, is Wikipedia heading for bust?”

The Guardian
headline reads “Wikipedia Approaches its limits” and says

“The online encyclopedia is about to hit 3m articles in English but growth is stalling as
‘inclusionists’ and ‘deletionists’ fight for control.


One example of this fight for control happened back in May when Wikipedia blocked certain users from the site.  The ScienceBlog has more:

“English Wikipedia barred all users from editing on servers belonging to the Church of Scientology and two dozen individual user accounts on Wikipedia….because they had been used to extensively push the Scientology agenda”

But could Wikipedia actually be fading?  

Not so fast, according to Alexa.com, a web information company that charts site traffic, Wikipedia is the 7th ranked website in the world and is ranked in the top 10 in at least 20 countries.

Also, the site is reporting a 4.63 percent increase in the percentage of web users who travel to the site.

Do you think Wikipedia is here to stay? And do you view it as a credible source?

Sci/Health News

Where is Wikipedia Headed?

August 16, 2009
(2:13)
Wikipedia was once one of the fastest growing websites in the world, but since 2006 the growth has slowed. The media is asking the question: Is Wikipedia here to stay?
   
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TRANSCRIPT

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