Like the Internet itself, Wikipedia has become one of those things we wonder how we lived without before its creation. From the value of Pi to the Napoleonic Wars to "tubing," it has become the go-to online resource for finding information on just about anything.
In connection with the online encyclopedia celebrating its 10th anniversary Saturday, the Pew Internet & American Life Project has put together some data on who uses the site and how it has grown in the U.S. For starters, the percentage of all American adults who use Wikipedia to look for information has gone from 25% in February 2007 to 42% in May 2010.
This translates into more than half (53%) of adult Internet users. Looking more closely at the composition of U.S. users, Pew found the audience splits about evenly on gender lines, with 56% of men using Wikipedia and half of women. But it otherwise skews toward better educated, higher-income users with broadband connections.
"The collaborative encyclopedia is most popular among Internet users with at least a college degree, 69% of whom use the site. Broadband use remains another predictor, as 59% of those with home broadband use the service, compared with 26% of those who connect to the internet through dial-up," according to the report.
It's more popular among households with at least $50,000 in annual income and among younger people as well. Nearly two-thirds (62%) of Internet users under 30 turn to Wikipedia, compared to one-third of those 65 and over. (They don't need help with homework.) Looking up stuff on the crowd-sourced site is also more common among whites, with 55% using Wikipedia compared to 43% and 40% of Hispanics and blacks, respectively.
In relation to other online activities, using Wikipedia is more popular than sending instant messages (done by 47% of Internet users) or rating a product, service, or person (32%), but is less popular than using social network sites (61%) or watching videos on sites like YouTube (66%). But unlike those last two, no one usually refers to Wikipedia as a time-sink.
Given its large (No. 12 in comScore U.S. ranking with traffic of 78 million and 410 million worldwide) and demographically desirable audience, Wikipedia could certainly attract its share of big-name brand advertisers. But the site has remained ad-free, aside from its own messages) for the last decade, and is on course to stay that way. The site met its year-end goal of raising $16 million to avoid running advertising.
Instead of a donation plea from Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales, the masthead ad space on the site now links to information on various Wikipedia 10th anniversary celebrations around the world. Happy birthday, Wikipedia!
COMMENTARY: I love Wikipedia, and have found it indispensable for conducting quick research on a subject. Sometimes, this is the only source that I use.
As of May 2010, 53% of American internet users look for information on Wikipedia, up from 36% of internet users the first time information was tracked about Wikipedia usage in February 2007.
Courtesy of an article dated January 14, 2011 appearing in MediaPost Publications Online Media Daily
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