Tiago Bianchi
Research expert covering internet & gaming in Latin America and Spain
Wikipedia - statistics & facts
For over two decades, Wikipedia has been the reference page for the internet, receiving millions of daily visitors to its websites in search of information. With its collective nature and little updates to its format, it is one of the most characteristic projects of the World Wide Web’s history and, therefore, shares many of its struggles. With the increasing use of generative artificial intelligence (AI) tools throughout several industries, especially concerning online information and content, the matter of relevance and trust might become the next looming question for the online encyclopedia.
With a workforce of around 700 employees, the foundation amassed a multitude of editors and contributors worldwide in what is called the Wikimedia movement, proving itself extremely successful in raising funds by gathering the highest amount of donations and contributions and net assets ever recorded in its 2024 fiscal year. Notably, most of its financial contributions come from North America and Europe, where its subdomain languages are the most popular.
In 2024, political topics related to the United States presidential election took the spotlight among the encyclopedia’s most viewed articles. Meanwhile, worries over deepfakes, amplification of biases, and AI hallucinations were the biggest concerns about generative artificial intelligence, especially when its effects on global political discussion are considered. However, Wikipedia's emphasis on user participation and editing is what may counterbalance its character as an online resource to understand current trends and global events in a fast-changing and divisive online landscape.
The encyclopedia
Wikipedia consistently appears among the most visited websites worldwide, being the seventh-most visited, and fifth in terms of unique visitors as of November 2023. Unlike most social media or other user-generated content platforms, it does not indicate a future adoption of any type of subscription model, being the sole website among the ten most visited worldwide led by a non-profit organization. Each language version is segmented across several subdomains of the Wikipedia.org address, in which English is by far the largest in terms of articles, edited entries, and registered users.The organization
Created in 2003, Wikimedia Foundation was the shift of Wiki-related projects like Wikipedia and Wikitionary, formerly under the umbrella of Jimmy Wales’ for-profit company Bomis, to its collaborative and free-content design. This allowed its initiatives to be funded via its donation process, which now includes Commons, Wikibooks, Wikiversity, Wikisource, Meta-wiki, Wikivoyage, Wikinews, Wikiquote, Wikispecies, Wikidata, MediaWiki and Wikifunctions.With a workforce of around 700 employees, the foundation amassed a multitude of editors and contributors worldwide in what is called the Wikimedia movement, proving itself extremely successful in raising funds by gathering the highest amount of donations and contributions and net assets ever recorded in its 2024 fiscal year. Notably, most of its financial contributions come from North America and Europe, where its subdomain languages are the most popular.
Further challenges: generative AI and misinformation
Wikipedia's role as an information source for internet users may face new challenges with the increasing adoption of generative artificial intelligence. In addition to ongoing disputes about information from various global sources and the complexities surrounding its definition in the context of online safety legislation that includes user-generated content platforms, the rise of generative AI raises concerns about misinformation. The urgency of these issues is clear, as evidenced by the fact that ChatGPT was Wikipedia’s most popular article in 2023. Currently ranked 12th, its continued popularity underscores the relevance of OpenAI's application and its substantial influence on the current debate regarding the usage of generative AI for online content production.In 2024, political topics related to the United States presidential election took the spotlight among the encyclopedia’s most viewed articles. Meanwhile, worries over deepfakes, amplification of biases, and AI hallucinations were the biggest concerns about generative artificial intelligence, especially when its effects on global political discussion are considered. However, Wikipedia's emphasis on user participation and editing is what may counterbalance its character as an online resource to understand current trends and global events in a fast-changing and divisive online landscape.
