Wikipedia celebrates 20 years of free, trusted information for the world
14 January 2021 — Wikipedia, the world’s largest free online encyclopedia, turns 20 years old on 15 January. This birthday commemorates two decades of global efforts to support free knowledge, open collaboration, and trust on the internet. In a time when disinformation and polarization challenge our trust in information and institutions, Wikipedia is more relevant….
The infinite potential of human collaboration
On November 2, 2000, a space capsule carrying three astronauts arrived at the International Space Station (ISS). It was appropriately named “Expedition 1,” and it was the beginning of 20 years of humans continuously living and working onboard the ISS. Just two months after the landing of Expedition 1, another seemingly impossible human endeavor launched….
Pandemics and politics: 2020 through the lens of Wikipedia
This is my sixth annual post sharing the list of Wikipedia’s most popular articles of the year, and each year I’ve had to come up with different ways of saying “people really love the latest pop culture.” Then 2020 happened — and, as with most things this year, the list was very different. Instead of….
What Wikipedia saw during election week in the U.S., and what we’re doing next
Election Day in the United States was a critical moment for the country, with impacts that will extend well beyond one election cycle. For many Americans, it was an anxiety-inducing event. While voters waited — and waited — for the results to come in, Wikipedia editors across the globe stood ready. As one of the….
The majesty of nature (and an abundance of birds) on full display in Wiki Loves Earth 2020
In the volcanic valleys of Russia, a red fox lies alert amongst chossy boulders; in the treetops of Thailand, an owl precariously slumbers; and in the forests of Bangladesh, a venomous pit viper stalks its prey. As unprecedented as 2020 has been, this year’s Wiki Loves Earth photography competition presents a stunning view of the….
Supporting Wikipedia and the environment: The Wikimedia Foundation and Plant Your Change collaborate to plant 400,000 trees
Update: Thanks to the generosity of Wikipedia donors, we were able to meet our goal of planting 400,000 trees! If you have not yet given to Wikipedia and are able to, we are grateful for your support. Visit donate.wikimedia.org to make a contribution. Timed with our 2020 end-of-year fundraising campaign on English Wikipedia, the Wikimedia….
The world relies on Wikipedia. Wikipedia relies on you.
During difficult times, we discover a lot about ourselves. We also find out who our friends are. In 2020, millions of people found a good friend in Wikipedia. Some folks, like me, were stuck at home making sense of a changed world. Others were out there keeping the world running. But all of us could….
How Wikipedia Is Preparing For The 2020 U.S. Election
If the internet is the most important battleground in next week’s U.S. presidential election, then Wikipedia is the Web’s neutral zone. Last month, U.S. federal agencies issued a public service announcementwith a warning that bad actors could use the internet to spread disinformation in an effort to discredit the legitimacy of the voting process. As….
The World Health Organization and Wikimedia Foundation expand access to trusted information about COVID-19 on Wikipedia
Geneva, Switzerland, 22 October 2020 — The World Health Organization (WHO) and the Wikimedia Foundation, the nonprofit that administers Wikipedia, announced today a collaboration to expand the public’s access to the latest and most reliable information about COVID-19. The collaboration will make trusted, public health information available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike license at a….
Celebrating the people who go above and beyond to build free knowledge: Meet our 2020 Wikimedian of the Year
When I first created Wikipedia back in 2001, the internet was a very different place. Only seven percent of people worldwide had a broadband connection, and more people spent time building personal websites than getting their news online. I knew what I wanted to create: a free encyclopedia, written by volunteers, for everyone in the….
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