I think Wikipedia was just the leading edge of a much broader trend. At Wikia, we are seeing people build out all kinds of collaborative works…"the rest of the library."First Wales talks about Wikipedia in the past tense, and then he suggests that the future of Wikipedia is Wikia. Need he be reminded that the mission of the Wikimedia Foundation is to build the entire library, not just the encyclopedia?
A comment like this clearly shows that Jimmy Wales is a net detriment to the Wikimedia Foundation - he is in fact actively competing against it for his own private benefit. But I wonder at this point whether there's even a net benefit to Wales of his continued involvement in the WMF. He'd still get speaking engagements and interviews if he just cut the cord completely, maybe even moreso. And he'd be able to be a lot more consistent and believable when speaking about what he does. If he played it right he could probably even retain most of his de facto power in the English Wikipedia, if he wanted to. But honesty seems to be the Achilles heel of Jimmy Wales. To cut the cord from the WMF he'd have to admit, to himself and to everyone else, that his creation of the Wikimedia Foundation was a failure.
I'm taking for granted here that the creation of the Wikimedia Foundation was a failure, and that, in his heart of hearts, Jimbo knows it. Wikipedia is as popular as it is despite the WMF, not because of it. Yes, there are pockets of success within the non-Wikipedia projects, but the mere coattail effect is enough to explain that.
5 comments:
Wikia has crippled itself at every turn in an effort to fend off criticism that it's just using wikipedia for its own gain. Making that allegation at this point is insane.
I'm not sure I understand your comment, Ben. My main problem has never really been Wikia using Wikipedia for its own gain. I think that has always gone on to some extent, but I think it's mostly incidental and can be forgiven. (Though the fact that Wikia goes out of its way to fend off such criticism doesn't make it any less true). In any case, Wikia has always been very careful to minimize its overlap with Wikipedia.
The main problem I have is that Wikia overlaps nearly entirely with the mission of the Wikimedia Foundation. Why shouldn't the Wikimedia Foundation have "unbelievably in-depth and accurate how-to manuals for every possible game", perhaps on Wikibooks? It's this direct competition that I find disturbing.
And yes, this is nothing new. It's been going on since Wikia was formed, and I've had a major problem with it pretty much since the beginning. Wales has been referring to Wikia as "the rest of the library" for years now, and I've been cringing every single time I've heard it since the first. I'm frankly amazed he has been so bold as to keep repeating that phrase, because it's quite obvious that the mission of the Wikimedia Foundation is to be the entire library, not just the encyclopedia.
By the way, Wikipedia != the Wikimedia Foundation. Please be aware of this distinction when leaving a comment. You might even want to reread my post keeping in mind that I have not used the two terms interchangeably.
If you tapped a vein on Ben Yates, I'll bet there's a pretty high concentration of Kool-Aid. Flavor? JimboJuice.
He's probably one of those self-absorbed Maize & Blue fans, too.
;-)
One problem I've felt is that Jimmy is never too sure where one ends and the other starts. And it's as though the WMF has spiralled of control and may have reached the stage where any attempt to make serious profit from it will be hampered by the "community".
I just wish adverts would be introduced, if only in the vague hope that advertisers may be able to exert pressure to keep the articles in a decent condition.
And if that means no IPs, over-18s only and full declarations of identity, then it's all the better!
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