It has been the butt of jokes for years, but the online encyclopedia represents mankind at its very best
If you look for the most visited websites in the world, what you find is a list of sites owned by western and Chinese corporations, confirmation of the degree to which the web has been captured by the corporate world. There is, however, one single ray of light in this depressing list. For there, in fifth place, is the antithesis to all of that: a site that embodies the potential of the internet to harness the collective intelligence of humanity – Wikipedia.
The idea that a significant encyclopedia could be created by allowing anyone to create pages on any topic seemed pretty improbable way in 2001 when it was mooted by Jimmy Wales. That it could have evolved into the world’s leading general reference work – and the fifth most visited website on the planet – is truly extraordinary.
Continue reading...from The Guardian https://ift.tt/2PXCJxO
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