As Wikipedia Celebrates Its First Ten Years, Some Still Worry About the Future Ten

Wikipedia has just celebrated its tenth birthday. The affair drew thousands of people in hundreds of events, mainly heavy users and editors of the site. Wikipedia also ended its biggest year in terms of donations. Despite its successes, the site is looking to grow even bigger and even faster. Yet there are those that still doubt the long-term sustainability of Wikipedia, just like there have been for the past ten years.

"People throughout the world are gathering at more than 450 events in 120 countries to celebrate Wikipedia’s 10th birthday," Jimmy Wales, cofounder of Wikipedia, wrote for the site's anniversary.

"When I started Wikipedia a decade ago, I never imagined that everyday people in places like Pakistan, Kazakhstan, Nigeria, Bolivia, Ethiopia and Algeria would come together to celebrate Wikipedia in such an extraordinary way," he said.

Thousands of Wikipedia editors gathered on Saturday to celebrate the occasion in 120 countries. It's these core editors that contribute much of the content and, more importantly, keep Wikipedia going smoothly, curating pages and ensuring a level of quality.

"Thank you to everyone who has contributed. Thank you to the editors, donors and supporters," Wales added.

"It’s my hope that more people are now inspired to join the movement and help us reach our mission: a world in which every single person on the planet is given free access to the sum of all human knowledge. I look forward to working with all of you over the next ten years to reach our goal," he said.

But even as the site has high hopes and big plans for the future, many are saying that the drop in contributions, especially in the more mature language sections, is a worrying trend.

Studies and statistics indicate that there are fewer edits and fewer people adding new content to the English, German or French sections of the site.

This has one simple possible explanation, there's not that much to do at this point as there are already articles on any possible subject. But Wikipedia knows this as well and it's focusing on growth in countries that have a big potential, places like Brazil or India, where many people are just starting to go online.