COMMENT
...talking to each other on message boards, Wales decides. "Talking to each other but not building something."
The hope for Wikipedia is a broader pool of contributors with geeks of all stripes - not just tech - involved.
"We know there are geeks who aren't computer geeks," he adds. "We know there are people who are really knowledgeable about poetry, who might not really feel comfortable editing a template or figuring out our table syntax... but who have a tonne of knowledge that they would be happy to share with people, and they would love to meet other people from their community who are interested in discussing and putting up some knowledge and we sometimes aren't addressing their needs very well so that's one of the things we're focused on."
To this end, there will be a small grant of almost $900,000 from the US-based Stanton Foundation to improve Wikipedia's writing and editing processes for first time users to help boost usability and accessibility.
Accessibility improvements aside, Wales doesn't foresee a lot of change to the site. Instead, expect incremental improvements: a Wikipedia that's "a little cleaner, a little smoother, a little easier to use".
(Image credit: Natasha Lomas/silicon.com)
It's clear that Wales continues to believe in the collective power of the wiki - both as a not-for-profit mission to provide universal access to information but also as a commercial opportunity.
Wikia Inc, founded in 2004 by Wales and web entrepreneur Angela Beesley, is a wiki hosting service that doubles as a platform to sell advertising.
The five-year-old company has just turned a profit for the first time - "just barely", he adds.
Another attempt by Wales to commercially capitalise on collaboration was not so successful. Wikia Search, a user-generated approach to search that he hoped would challenge Google's dominance launched in 2008 but was shuttered the following year - with Wales blaming the tough economic climate and vowing: "I'll return to this again when the economy is good."
But isn't there a contradiction in trying to make money from content created by unpaid people giving up their free time just for the love of the thing?
Continued on page three...
Comments
There are 3 comments. Join the discussion
1. Gregory Kohs
Sorry, but I have to discount any analysis here when I see Wales presented as the "founder" of Wikipedia.
2. anonymous
Wikipedia needs to rebrand, take itself seriously not provide a mechanism for debate or conjecture should it wish not to be considered comic.
3. Lukie Andrew Marsh
!Hero