№14828796[Quote]
>>14828787soyquote every single paragraph of that page
№14828807[Quote]
>Wikipedia was first founded on January 15, 2001. Today, 25 years later, it has become the backbone of knowledge on the internet, informing everything from day-to-day life and AI chatbots to journalism and trivia wins. Nearly 250,000 volunteers write, edit, and fact check its 65 million articles across 300+ languages, all guided by standards on neutrality and reliability.
<WIKIPEDIA SPACE
>In 2026, we are celebrating Wikipedia’s 25th birthday. In honor of this milestone, we interviewed a few volunteer editors from around the world about what moves them to contribute to Wikipedia’s pages.
№14828813[Quote]
>>14828807kind of cute gif to me ngl I don't know why
№14828842[Quote]
25 years of Wikipedia
From dial-up days to now, travel through Wikipedia's history.
Today, Wikipedia is the backbone of knowledge on the internet—but everything has to start somewhere. For Wikipedia, that was a blank website and a dream.It was just another day: 15 January 2001.
Jimmy Wales booted up his computer and wrote the words "Hello, World!" into a blank website called Wikipedia. Its name came from the "wiki" software developed by Ward Cunningham.
Jimmy was optimistic, but he knew he was taking a risk. Nobody knew if the encyclopedic experiment would succeed.
Against all odds, it has.The backbone
of knowledge
on the
internetWikipedia's
increasing
sizeAs Wikipedia's volunteer communities grew in number and languages, its coverage did too. This can be illustrated with data from the Wikimedia Foundation, the nonprofit that supports Wikipedia: months before Wikipedia celebrated its first birthday, volunteers were authoring thousands of new articles every month. By the end of 2002, that jumped to tens of thousands—and by early 2005, it was in the hundreds of thousands.The world is
changingIn a world where paywalls and advertising have become the norm, Wikipedia's free, reliable knowledge that anyone can access, share and create is more valuable than ever. It remains one of the most-visited websites in the world.
Still, Wikipedia is confronting a challenging environment. Information integrity is being contested as distrust in media and institutions trends up. Wikipedia's knowledge is also increasingly being used and consumed by generative AI tools, search engines, social media platforms, and other technologies without attribution. That means that while Wikipedia continues to be a vital source of trusted information, it's becoming less visible to those who use its content on other websites.
Wikipedia will need your continued support as it looks beyond its 25th anniversary. We invite you to read on to learn a little bit about Wikipedia, its core values, and the volunteers who write it.Wikipedia's
volunteers[Citation_needed! has signed on]
Citation_needed!: hey!! 🌼 anyone around?
wikiCat123: hiiii! ✨ just finished dinner + ready 2 edit
TinyFootnote: fixing commas… everywhere… so many commas
wikiCat123: Our hero! 😭💕
Citation_needed!: Yay! 1 edit can make a difference!
wikiCat123: It was so fun to edit together at the editathon
TinyFootnote: Pics or it didn't happen 😜
Citation_needed!: I wanna seeeeeeeeee
wikiCat123: Sending….
[Citation_needed! is typing…]Unlike many other internet projects, Wikipedia invites everyone to participate.Everyone doubted it. Even today, people say that it works in practice but not in theory. And yet, what could have been a disaster proved to be precisely what Wikipedia needed to succeed.Who would devote untold numbers of hours to writing words on Wikipedia?
It's people who have a love for facts. Who believe in the power of knowledge. Who care enough to debate the best title for an article about yogurt/yoghurt.
Their work represents almost 25 years of humanity at its best—the humans of today, organizing themselves to benefit the humans of tomorrow.The five pillarsA pivotal part of Wikipedia's story, the five pillars set it on the path to become one of the most trusted parts of the internet.
These pillars did more than create a blueprint for the content; they created the foundation on which Wikipedia can evolve.
The five pillars of Wikipedia
+
01
Wikipedia is an encyclopedia
+
02
Wikipedia is written from a neutral point of view
+
03
Wikipedia is free content that anyone can use, edit, and distribute
+
04
Wikipedia's editors should treat each other with respect and civility
+
05
Wikipedia has no firm rulesConsensus and
collaborationThere is one more cornerstone on which Wikipedia was built: decision-making through consensus. People from different backgrounds, perspectives, and political persuasions debate and disagree in entirely transparent processes; every edit can be seen in article history pages, and every discussion point can be seen in talk pages.
Consensus decisions can apply to all sorts of questions. The English Wikipedia has had lengthy debates over whether Kate Middleton's wedding
№14828874[Quote]
>25 years of Wikipedia
>From dial-up days to now, travel through Wikipedia's history.
>Today, Wikipedia is the backbone of knowledge on the internet—but everything has to start somewhere. For Wikipedia, that was a blank website and a dream.It was just another day: 15 January 2001.
>
>
>
>Jimmy Wales booted up his computer and wrote the words "Hello, World!" into a blank website called Wikipedia. Its name came from the "wiki" software developed by Ward Cunningham.
>
>
>
>Jimmy was optimistic, but he knew he was taking a risk. Nobody knew if the encyclopedic experiment would succeed.
>
>
>
>Against all odds, it has.The backbone
>of knowledge
>on the
>internetWikipedia's
>increasing
>sizeAs Wikipedia's volunteer communities grew in number and languages, its coverage did too. This can be illustrated with data from the Wikimedia Foundation, the nonprofit that supports Wikipedia: months before Wikipedia celebrated its first birthday, volunteers were authoring thousands of new articles every month. By the end of 2002, that jumped to tens of thousands—and by early 2005, it was in the hundreds of thousands.The world is
>changingIn a world where paywalls and advertising have become the norm, Wikipedia's free, reliable knowledge that anyone can access, share and create is more valuable than ever. It remains one of the most-visited websites in the world.
>
>
>
>Still, Wikipedia is confronting a challenging environment. Information integrity is being contested as distrust in media and institutions trends up. Wikipedia's knowledge is also increasingly being used and consumed by generative AI tools, search engines, social media platforms, and other technologies without attribution. That means that while Wikipedia continues to be a vital source of trusted information, it's becoming less visible to those who use its content on other websites.
>
>
>
>Wikipedia will need your continued support as it looks beyond its 25th anniversary. We invite you to read on to learn a little bit about Wikipedia, its core values, and the volunteers who write it.Wikipedia's
>volunteers[Citation_needed! has signed on]
>
>Citation_needed!: hey!! 🌼 anyone around?
>
>wikiCat123: hiiii! ✨ just finished dinner + ready 2 edit
>
>TinyFootnote: fixing commas… everywhere… so many commas
>
>wikiCat123: Our hero! 😭💕
>
>Citation_needed!: Yay! 1 edit can make a difference!
>
>wikiCat123: It was so fun to edit together at the editathon
>
>TinyFootnote: Pics or it didn't happen 😜
>
>Citation_needed!: I wanna seeeeeeeeee
>
>wikiCat123: Sending….
>
>[Citation_needed! is typing…]Unlike many other internet projects, Wikipedia invites everyone to participate.Everyone doubted it. Even today, people say that it works in practice but not in theory. And yet, what could have been a disaster proved to be precisely what Wikipedia needed to succeed.Who would devote untold numbers of hours to writing words on Wikipedia?
>
>
>
>It's people who have a love for facts. Who believe in the power of knowledge. Who care enough to debate the best title for an article about yogurt/yoghurt.
>
>
>
>Their work represents almost 25 years of humanity at its best—the humans of today, organizing themselves to benefit the humans of tomorrow.The five pillarsA pivotal part of Wikipedia's story, the five pillars set it on the path to become one of the most trusted parts of the internet.
>
>
>
>These pillars did more than create a blueprint for the content; they created the foundation on which Wikipedia can evolve.
>
>The five pillars of Wikipedia
>+
>01
>Wikipedia is an encyclopedia
>+
>02
>Wikipedia is written from a neutral point of view
>+
>03
>Wikipedia is free content that anyone can use, edit, and distribute
>+
>04
>Wikipedia's editors should treat each other with respect and civility
>+
>05
>Wikipedia has no firm rulesConsensus and
>collaborationThere is one more cornerstone on which Wikipedia was built: decision-making through consensus. People from different backgrounds, perspectives, and political persuasions debate and disagree in entirely transparent processes; every edit can be seen in article history pages, and every discussion point can be seen in talk pages.
>
>Consensus decisions can apply to all sorts of questions. The English Wikipedia has had lengthy debates over whether Kate Middleton's wedding