Wikipedia as an Internet Metropolis

In seven years, Wikipedia – the collaborative, online, free encyclopedia – has become one of the top 10 global websites. While it still has many fewer visitors than Google, Wikipedia’s 60 million visitors a month put it within striking distance of such Internet heavies as Amazon and eBay. Hundreds of thousands of people have thus far come together to collaborate.

With its 2.8 million English-language articles is Wikipedia close to being “complete?”

No, argues Noam Cohen in The New York Times. Cohen writes:

“Wikipedia can no more be completed than can New York City, which O. Henry predicted would be “a great place if they ever finish it.” In fact, with its millions of visitors and hundreds of thousands of volunteers, its ever-expanding total of articles and languages spoken, Wikipedia may be the closest thing to a metropolis yet seen online.”

Read “Wikipedia: Exploring Fact City.”