Here are some things you might know about Craig Newmark:
- He founded craigslist.
- He is an incredibly generous supporter of the free and open knowledge movement, and of the Wikimedia Foundation. Over the past few years, Newmark and his charitable foundation, Craig Newmark Philanthropies, have contributed to the Wikimedia Endowment, our work on improving the health of our contributor communities , and to ongoing projects that support Wikipedia.
- In December, Craig asked people to celebrate his 65th birthday by donating to the Wikimedia Foundation in his honor. He made a pledge to match every birthday donation up to US$650,000, calling it his birthday gift to open knowledge, and to the future of Wikipedia, which he says is “where facts go to live.”
- He deeply cares about countering media manipulation and in creating sustainable solutions to combat misinformation.
And here is something you may not know about Craig Newmark:
- He loves birds, especially pigeons.
Why pigeons, Craig?
“They’re practically ubiquitous, living everywhere on Earth except the Sahara and the poles,” says Newmark. “They’re amazingly diverse and beautiful. They can adapt to almost any environment—but that doesn’t mean some species haven’t been pushed to extinction. In a funny way, they’re a lot like Wikipedia. Maybe that’s why I love them both so much—Wikipedia and pigeons. Ubiquitous, diverse, resilient, never to be taken for granted.”
So what better way to honor Craig Newmark than through combining his love of pigeons with his love of Wikipedia?
That’s where we need your help. And your pigeon photos.
Help us honor Craig Newmark through #wikipigeon
When we asked Craig what we could do to thank him, he said that he wanted to see more pictures of pigeons on Wikimedia Commons, which is a freely licensed repository for educational media content that hosts most of the images used on Wikipedia. We’re calling it #wikipigeon, and our goal is to get 100 new pigeon photos on Wikimedia Commons and train 100 new people on how to upload their pigeon photos.
By sharing your photographs on Wikimedia Commons (instructions below), you can ensure that your pigeon photos can be used as an educational material around the world.
There are detailed instructions on how to upload your pigeon pictures to Wikimedia Commons. Here are the steps you need to take:
- Take some pigeon photos.
- Create an account.
- Go to the Upload Wizard and select photos to donate.
- Select “This file is my own work”.
- Choose a title, describe what the photo shows, and add the category “Unidentified pigeon breeds.” If you’re sure of the exact species, add that category instead.
- Click next, and you’re done!
Thank you—both for adding to the world’s collection of free and open knowledge, and helping us thank Craig Newmark!
Wikimedia Commons accepts all kinds of educational media content, and it’s all freely licensed—available for anyone to use, anywhere, with no fees. Exact copyright licenses can vary, but generally you need to credit the author and share any remixes under a similar license. Join them today!
