Value Creation for the User<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n Wikimedia\u2019s mission is to \u201cempower and engage people around the world to collect and develop educational content under a free license or in the public domain, and to disseminate it effectively and globally.\u201d2 <\/sup>And, in many ways they accomplish this, creating a lot of value for the world.<\/p>\n As every fourth grader and every second year MBA student knows, a Wikipedia search can really help you get going no matter what the assignment is. With a content library of 6.0 million English articles3<\/sup>, in just a few seconds, users doing a quick fact check at dinner or starting an in-depth research project can find up-to-date answers to nearly every basic question they may be asking.<\/p>\n As we all know, Wikipedia\u2019s value has a limit though. For instance, I\u2019m pretty sure this will be the only assignment I have ever and will ever submit with a Wikipedia article sited – more to come the limitations of Wikipedia\u2019s value creation.<\/p>\n Value Creation for the Contributor<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n I can not fathom spending my free time editing Wikipedia pages, so I\u2019ll just parrot the results of the editor survey done by Wikipedia showing why contributors dedicate their time to editing Wikipedia pages for the benefit of everyone else4<\/sup>:<\/p>\n While I can\u2019t get on board, nearly 1.8 edits are made every second, so who am I to say there\u2019s no value created for the contributors!5<\/sup><\/p>\n Value Capture <\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n In terms of value capture, Wikipedia does not believe in advertisements on their website, so the Wikimedia Foundation, the non-profit organization that manages Wikipedia, is funded by donations.<\/p>\n We\u2019ve all seen some version of this plea for donations or popped open a Wikipedia page confirming the capital city of Kansas is in fact Topeka and been asked for a small donation to keep Wikipedia running.<\/p>\n Ever wonder how those campaigns perform? In 2016, Wikipedia raised $82 million from donations and other contributions. This is enough to cover expenses and keep the site up and running for years to come, and given the non-profit nature of the company, that\u2019s the extent of the value capture of Wikipedia \u2013 just keeping the lights on. Could this by why the donation campaigns actually work?<\/p>\n Scalability <\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n While one could argue Wikipedia is already at scale, their interest in continuing to scale scaling comes in two forms: they encourage more articles and more articles in more languages.<\/p>\n Network Effects<\/strong><\/p>\n Wikipedia has strong cross-side network effects as users look for content, they benefit from contributors adding pages and keeping the current pages up-to-date.<\/p>\n Wikipedia\u2019s growth rate is slowing substantially year over year (3.75% in 2019 vs 24% in 2009 6<\/sup>), as are the number of editors, but as new important topics come up, the content is still being added. For example, the Wikipedia page called \u201c2019-20 Coronavirus Pandemic\u201d already has over 800 citations and is approximately 100 printed pages.7 <\/sup><\/p>\n In terms of scaling to more languages, bots have automated translations and are helping expand Wikipedia\u2019s reach around the globe.8<\/sup><\/p>\n Given these factors, it\u2019s safe to say Wikipedia\u2019s network effects are still strong, even at their massive scale and nearly 20 years in to their journey.<\/p>\n Sustainability<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n Risk of Disintermediation and\u00a0<\/strong>Multi-homing<\/b><\/p>\n Accuracy and perceived accuracy, completeness, biased content, and vandalism are all factors that make Wikipedia a less than perfect source of knowledge for the user, however Wikipedia is likely here to stay. As mentioned above, users don\u2019t trust Wikipedia as a final source of knowledge for any complex content even though some estimates say over 99% of Wikipedia\u2019s content is accurate. Completeness, however, is rated much lower at 69-91%.9<\/sup> Given anyone can contribute to Wikipedia articles whenever they want, the content can be biased and is at risk of vandalism, requiring a strong network of contributors to catch and correct these malicious edits. Each of these factors leads both me and the 4th<\/sup> graders to verify content through other sources before submitting final versions of our assignments, but we still go there first. And that is the value that Wikipedia brings to the users. Contributors who fall into the \u201cI enjoy contributing to subject matters with expertise\u201d likely search for other, more reputable outlets to share their knowledge, but that doesn\u2019t stop them from also editing in Wikipedia. Wikipedia assumes multi-homing for both its users and contributors and that works for them!<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Sources<\/strong><\/p>\n 1 <\/sup>Number of Wikipedia contributors from 2001 \u2013 2017, https:\/\/www.statista.com\/statistics\/265837\/number-of-wikipedia-contributors-worldwide\/<\/a>, accessed 3\/23<\/p>\n 2<\/sup> Wikimedia Foundation Mission, https:\/\/wikimediafoundation.org\/about\/mission\/<\/a>, accessed 3\/23\/20<\/p>\n 3<\/sup> Wikipedia: Size of Wikipedia, https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Wikipedia:Size_of_Wikipedia<\/a>, accessed 3\/23\/20<\/p>\n 4<\/sup> Editor Survey, https:\/\/meta.wikimedia.org\/wiki\/Editor_Survey_2011\/Editing_Activities<\/a>, accessed 3\/22\/20<\/p>\n 5<\/sup> Wikipedia Statistics, https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Wikipedia:Statistics<\/a>, accessed 3\/23\/20<\/p>\n 6<\/sup> Size of Wikipedia, https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Wikipedia:Size_of_Wikipedia<\/a>, accessed 3\/23\/20<\/p>\n 7<\/sup> 2019-20 Coronavirus Pandemic, https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/2019%E2%80%9320_coronavirus_pandemic<\/a>, accessed 3\/23\/20<\/p>\n 8<\/sup> Could Bots solve all of Wikipedia\u2019s problems? https:\/\/medium.com\/enrique-dans\/could-an-army-of-bots-solve-all-wikipedias-problems-40703ba9d457<\/a>, accessed 3\/22\/20<\/p>\n\n
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