Wikipedia, which was officially launched on January 15, 2001 with only about 100 entries, has now grown into an online knowledge giant with more than 65 million articles and nearly 15 billion monthly views. To commemorate the 25th anniversary of the founding of the website, the Wikimedia Foundation, the non-profit organization behind Wikipedia, has launched a series of mini-documentary short films, which for the first time systematically presents to the public a group of volunteer editors distributed around the world, in an attempt to give this "Internet knowledge center" a more humane face.
This series of short films focuses on eight editors from different countries and backgrounds, including the editor with the online name "Hurricane Hank", who joined Wikipedia in 2005 and participated in writing and improving the "Hurricane Katrina" entry; the other protagonist is Netha, a senior editor from India with a medical background, who used her professional knowledge to actively combat misinformation and false content on the site during the COVID-19 epidemic. The documentary also records a volunteer from the UK, Joanne, who took the initiative to create a Wikipedia entry for Eloise Butler, the founder of the first public wild garden in the United States, after accidentally learning about it on social media. At the same time, volunteer editor Gabe focused on adding and verifying content related to important black figures in history to ensure that their presentation on Wikipedia was more complete and accurate.
In an era where generative artificial intelligence is rapidly gaining popularity and information is increasingly difficult to distinguish between authenticity and authenticity, these short films are intended to emphasize that there are still real human communities behind Wikipedia that participate in collaboration and control, rather than being a cold abstract platform. The Wikimedia Foundation also simultaneously launched a digital "time capsule" this time, which contains the voice records of Jimmy Wales, the founder of Wikipedia, and reviews many key nodes in the development of the website. For example, after the news of Michael Jackson's death in 2009, a large number of users poured in related entries at the same time, almost overwhelming the server. In addition to "signing" electronic birthday cards online, users can also participate in watching the 25th anniversary online live celebration held on Thursday.
Although Wikipedia is currently facing attacks from some politicians, who are accused of so-called "bias" on certain issues, and the neutrality and credibility of the website itself are also constantly being tested by the outside world, the overall operation of the platform remains strong. Currently, the number of independent devices accessing Wikipedia every month exceeds 1.5 billion, and Wikipedia remains one of the important starting points for global Internet knowledge retrieval. Wales said in a public statement that "under various adverse conditions, Wikipedia has still grown into the backbone of today's Internet knowledge." "Wikipedia has spent 25 years proving that when people come together based on trust and collaboration, the seemingly impossible can become a reality."
access:
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Event:Wikipedia_25_Virtual_Celebration