I wouldn't say the discussion for so-called solutions is anything to be excited about: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia_talk:Growth_Team_features#Username_suggestion_for_account_creation ?
These things only make community-foundation relations worse and only risks our long term survival as a project. Every time something like ths and CommTech happens, you get worsened morale. On Thu, Jun 11, 2026, 9:18 a.m. Christophe Henner via Wikimedia-l < [email protected]> wrote: > 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] > > _______________________________________________ > 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/2QL4BSONCQYOAESTPUQB25KOTIRIFIWJ/ > To unsubscribe send an email to [email protected]
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