Wikipedia Woos Users as Interest Wanes

Wikipedia has grown from 100,000 topic pages in 2003 to over 15 million today, and remains an iconic Internet brand as “the free encyclopedia that anyone can edit.”

According to Newsweek, thousands of volunteer editors have logged off, along with users. What was once a pioneering Web 2.0 social movement is in serious trouble, the also-struggling Newsweek notes in a blog posted titled "Take This Blog and Shove It!"

A spokesperson tells Newsweek that user activity on the crowdsourced site has stagnated. Reasons for the drop-off in interest include the fact that the site is virtually complete; overly-aggressive editors are off-putting to the casual user; its interface isn't that user-friendly; and its plethora of anti-vandalism rules are complicated and intimidating.Continue reading...