3 ms·
No, it is now much harder to make a Wikipedia, for a number of reasons. To name just a few: 1. The Internet is bigger now. Being an average-sized fish in a sma
by chc 15y ago
No, it is now much harder to make a Wikipedia, for a number of reasons. To name just a few:
1. The Internet is bigger now. Being an average-sized fish in a small pond is not the same as being a small fish in an enormous ocean. Back then, being a professional blogger was actually doable and you could trivially game search engines and ad networks. The Web as a whole has a lot more resistance now.
2. There is already a Wikipedia now; there wasn't one when Wikipedia started.
3. Google wants to have Wikipedia's babies. Google does not want to have your babies.
4. An improvement that would be a great boon to an existing product is not necessarily a sufficient basis for a completely new project, particularly given the inertia outlined in the above points.
Overall, your contention here reminds me of suggestions like "If you don't like the law, go start your own country."
- tptacek 15y agoThe whole system of publishing academic research is thoroughly and painfully mired in the 1950s. It is much harder to make a new encyclopedia now, but that's not what I'm suggesting 'angersock should do, because he doesn't like encyclopedias.
- angersock 15y agoTo clear up any confusion, I have nothing against encyclopedias. I have a fairly old copy of the Britannica on a bookshelf back home, and I used to love reading through them when I was younger. Again, my issue isn't with encyclopedias--it is with the waste of potential for what Wikipedia has become.