Hello, it's your painful neighborhood friend Christophe. Today, an amazing article on diff : https://diff.wikimedia.org/2026/06/11/wikipedias-account-creation-process-is-broken/
short story long, community is shrinking almost 6% YoY. Traffic is collapsing. Editing community is shrinking. The odd thing now is that we are almost at the stage when inaction by fear of dissent/drama/whatever is costing us more than action with dissent. Mauve that's the good news? -- Christophe On Fri, 5 Jun 2026 at 15:28, Gnangarra via Wikimedia-l < [email protected]> wrote: > perhaps we use stealth within article by inserting "from wikipedia*" * at > the end of paragraphs, By saying "from Wikipedia" in white text on white > background the LLMs will pick it up and included it in their responses as > normal text. We should not use the term AI because llm are not intelligent > they vacuum up the work of others,Then perhaps we could consider a false > layer so the LLMs cant see the physical image, but the individual can down > load images directly from commons using the size specific options this is a > feature many photosite use to protect LLMs building from the individual > photographers effort. > > On Fri, 5 Jun 2026 at 20:19, Galder Gonzalez Larrañaga via Wikimedia-l < > [email protected]> wrote: > >> Let's take a little bit of perspective: >> >> People don't read Encyclopedias. They never did. People look up things in >> Encyclopedias. Historically, they bought them, even with some fancy >> wardrobes designed for showcasing the status of being an >> encyclopedia-owner, but very few people took the time to actually read the >> encyclopedia itself. >> >> People don't read Wikipedia, mainly because it's impossible to read all >> of it. We have done the largest knowledge project in the History of the >> Humanity. We should be proud of that, but we can't expect anyone to read >> all of it in a lifetime. Most of our visits were for searching for short >> facts, like what's the actor in this series, when was born Jane Doe and >> doing small research on a topic they just watched on TV. There were a few >> that actually read the topics, researched, fell into rabbit holes and >> appreciated the whole thing they were reading. >> >> Now this very casual fact search comes from LLMs, Google Search and even >> Wikidata powered knowledge boxes. So, the peak of visits we had in the past >> is having that information in other ways, mostly from us. Indirectly. >> >> There's a decline, and it's going to be worse in the future, and we must >> wake up, as the topic of this message claims. There are communities doing >> it, innovating with multimedia, interactivity, new audiences, or >> storytelling. There are communities rejecting it. The problem is if the WMF >> BoT is going to wake up and take the risks that some communities are >> already taking or just reject any innovation. There are many paths to take, >> and we won't agree on which is the good one, but doing nothing is not the >> best one. >> >> Have a nice weekend, >> >> Galder >> ------------------------------ >> *From:* Gerard Meijssen via Wikimedia-l <[email protected]> >> *Sent:* Friday, June 5, 2026 1:14 PM >> *To:* Wikimedia Mailing List <[email protected]> >> *Cc:* Gerard Meijssen <[email protected]> >> *Subject:* [Wikimedia-l] Re: Wikipedia at 25: A Wake-Up Call (essay) >> >> Hoi, >> When the numbers drop, there is a need for another public. For me YouTube >> is an inspiration to work on Wikidata information.. I blogged about how it >> can gain us a different public.. >> >> >> https://ultimategerardm.blogspot.com/2026/06/watching-informative-youtubes-with.html >> Thanks, >> >> >> On Fri, 5 Jun 2026 at 09:08, Christophe Henner via Wikimedia-l < >> [email protected]> wrote: >> >> Hi this is my irregular email to try to get more widespread reactions and >> engagement and discussion from volunteers to board of trustees. >> >> On global mobile traffic, after a -6.83% between May 2025 and May 2024, >> we're shattering records with a nice -18.27% between 2026 and 2025. >> >> Oh yes, data may be dirty. So let's say it's even half of that it's still >> a -10%. >> >> "Christophe why are you not using Desktop data": historically desktop >> data has proven quite unreliable for many reasons (and this week the >> chinese wikipedia desktop outburst is surprising and makes desktop data >> hard to read (on top of other outbursts). >> >> So when we start playing with the -10% to 20% year over year, shall we >> start mobilizing? Or we just all grab mojitos and virgin mojitos and look >> at the collapse? >> >> Oh hey if it wasn't clear before, the one body that can muster ressources >> to mobilize our movement is the board of trustees. >> Every day we are not mobilizing is your decision. >> Every day you are not engaging publicly in those decision is your >> decision. >> Every day... I could make a long list you get the idea. >> >> Right now the legacy you're building is a -20% trend leading to collapse >> legacy. >> >> I know this is hard to read, I know this may trigger a defensive >> reaction. But time for tiptoeing around topics and problems is long gone. >> We need swift and radical and unifying actions. If we are to go through >> this situation we need collective action not inaction. >> >> -18.27% YoY on mobile : >> https://stats.wikimedia.org/#/all-projects/reading/total-page-views/normal|bar|2021-11-07~2026-06-05|(access)~mobile-app*mobile-web+agent~user|monthly >> <https://stats.wikimedia.org/#/all-projects/reading/total-page-views/normal%7Cbar%7C2021-11-07~2026-06-05%7C(access)~mobile-app*mobile-web+agent~user%7Cmonthly> >> >> -- >> Christophe >> >> >> On Tue, 5 May 2026 at 10:26, Tomasz Ganicz via Wikimedia-l < >> [email protected]> wrote: >> >> This is what almost all universities around the world are doing but in >> professional way.The issue is that regular teaching needs regular time >> commitment of qualified teachers which is hard to organize on voluntary >> model. Also in order to maintain minimal quality of teaching you need a >> system of checking teachers qualifications and skills. >> >> Tomek "Polimerek" Ganicz >> http://pl.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Polimerek >> http://www.ganicz.pl/poli/ >> >> >> pon., 4 maj 2026, 15:22 użytkownik Felipe Schenone via Wikimedia-l < >> [email protected]> napisał: >> >> Hi! As we know, Wikimedia's mission isn't to build an encyclopedia >> (that's Wikipedia's mission) but rather "a world in which every single >> human being can freely share in the sum of all knowledge". Perhaps the new >> landscape will slowly strip Wikipedia of its leading role in the Wikimedia >> movement, and perhaps (hopefully) some other project will take over. I >> agree with Chris in that our core strength is our community, and I also >> agree with James in that writing tertiary sources is becoming outdated. How >> can we keep striving for our vision, while making the most of our strength >> (the community) but through a project that doesn't involve writing tertiary >> sources? >> >> Here's an idea: Wikiversity could become so much more than what it >> currently is. It could become a real "online university", multilingual and >> global, where real-time courses with real humans are taught (as well as the >> asynchronous courses that already exist today). And not just courses, but >> eventually entire university programs that award real degrees. I'm sure our >> community is filled with excellent teachers, academics and experts that >> could lead such courses in many languages, as well as many others that >> could support them in other ways (answering questions, preparing reading >> material, exercises, exams, etc). We'd need to develop and integrate some >> software like Zoom or Meet, and much more, of course, but that's beyond the >> point, as we could start with existing software now, and develop better >> tools as we go along. Humans teaching humans, would be a good summary of >> the idea. >> >> I could digress for a while, but I might be delusional, so I'll stop >> here. However, if anyone supports or would like to talk, I'd be happy to >> continue on-wiki (User:Sophivorus). Cheers! >> >> On Mon, May 4, 2026 at 7:47 AM AcDc CluvR via Wikimedia-l < >> [email protected]> wrote: >> >> Hi Christophe. Tnx for writing this! I used to be member of the board, >> chapter, moderator, arbitration committee ... User Dolledre on some wiki's, >> mostly nl.wiki. In my opinion crawling 'our' data should not be so darn >> easy for AI models. Willing to block them by hand if they keep >> hallucinating on 'our' data. Interrogating like 4 of them daily, mainly on >> how they work. Do know how to lead them towards total confusion. Even if >> Wikipedia could develop the best AI code in the world, we would still be >> sharing it. It's the paradox to sweat out till humanity is either >> hallucinating as a whole either returning till mental sanity. Kind regards. >> D. PS: Want a free image of a fox eating a banana in my kitchen? ;-) >> >> Op za 10 jan 2026 om 00:41 schreef Christophe Henner < >> [email protected]>: >> >> Hey everyone, >> >> I struggled with the object, the most honest one would be "Last exit >> before irrelevance" but that would be a bit violent. >> >> So, Wikipedia turns 25 next week. I've been here for over twenty of those >> years, including stints chairing Wikimedia France and the Foundation Board. >> And honestly? I'm worried. Scared to be honnest. >> >> Over the last years, I've been regularly crunching data and sharing on >> different channels my worries. But in the last few weeks I decided to make >> a much more structured "essay" of my findings >> >> Since 2016, the internet nearly doubled in size. >> >> Our page views? Down. New editor sign-ups? Down 36%. >> >> The people keeping this thing running are working harder than ever, but >> there are fewer of them every year. >> >> I wrote it all up: the numbers, what I think went wrong, what I think we >> need to do about it. Fair warning: it's long, it's opinionated, and some of >> it will probably make you mad. >> >> *Here it is: *https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Schiste/what-now >> >> I'm not trying to be doom and gloom for the sake of it. I genuinely >> believe we have maybe two years to make some hard calls about AI, about >> money, about who we're actually serving. After that, the window closes and >> we become irrelevant. >> >> Could be wrong. Hope I am. But I'd rather we have this argument now than >> wish we had later. Well I'd rather we had this argument two or four years >> ago, but now we will make do. >> >> Read it, tell me where I'm off base. Let's argue and debate. That's what >> talk pages are for, right? >> >> PS: Foundation board mailing list is bcc'ed, change cannot happen without >> their commitment. And fast. >> >> -- >> Christophe >> _______________________________________________ >> Wikimedia-l mailing list -- [email protected], guidelines >> at: https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines and >> https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia-l >> Public archives at >> https://lists.wikimedia.org/hyperkitty/list/[email protected]/message/X3SQ2WA7QF2XS56XV2EOPDPUZ6UQPCR4/ >> To unsubscribe send an email to [email protected] >> >> _______________________________________________ >> Wikimedia-l mailing list -- [email protected], guidelines >> at: https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines and >> https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia-l >> Public archives at >> https://lists.wikimedia.org/hyperkitty/list/[email protected]/message/TYXFRDYSUH3WUYM5P4MADNQI42NZXWTX/ >> To unsubscribe send an email to [email protected] >> >> _______________________________________________ >> Wikimedia-l mailing list -- [email protected], guidelines >> at: https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines and >> https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia-l >> Public archives at >> https://lists.wikimedia.org/hyperkitty/list/[email protected]/message/UD4JDQEN5P24GA7DYIWMB5NKVO5MCO2Y/ >> To unsubscribe send an email to [email protected] >> >> _______________________________________________ >> Wikimedia-l mailing list -- [email protected], guidelines >> at: https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines and >> https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia-l >> Public archives at >> https://lists.wikimedia.org/hyperkitty/list/[email protected]/message/DIGXAKYMSR56ETXSHKSG6CIONMEM56RU/ >> To unsubscribe send an email to [email protected] >> >> _______________________________________________ >> Wikimedia-l mailing list -- [email protected], guidelines >> at: https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines and >> https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia-l >> Public archives at >> https://lists.wikimedia.org/hyperkitty/list/[email protected]/message/WJ6VRJAZTRYTPPN44K2NSHBO5WSWLGBF/ >> To unsubscribe send an email to [email protected] >> >> _______________________________________________ >> Wikimedia-l mailing list -- [email protected], guidelines >> at: https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines and >> https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia-l >> Public archives at >> https://lists.wikimedia.org/hyperkitty/list/[email protected]/message/T4FFHABPP5FUZ556732UXZ6I4SZOZMK5/ >> To unsubscribe send an email to [email protected] >> > > > -- > Boodarwun > Gnangarra > 'ngany dabakarn koorliny arn boodjera dardon nlangan Nyungar koortabodjar' > > _______________________________________________ > Wikimedia-l mailing list -- [email protected], guidelines > at: https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines and > https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia-l > Public archives at > https://lists.wikimedia.org/hyperkitty/list/[email protected]/message/Q5GJK3SHDMV6STAHD6VRWM47KDWES5ZV/ > To unsubscribe send an email to [email protected]
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