Wiki, plus video [was Wikipedia at 25: A Wake-Up Call (essay)]

--===============7679046391504962736==
Content-Type: multipart/alternative; boundary="000000000000a7f272065648d72f"

--000000000000a7f272065648d72f
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="UTF-8"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable

TL;DR: https://wikiplus.video

I see the recent developments in AI and the death of traditional
Google-style search as peripheral to our real problem: Wikipedia doesn't
have anything to offer to an audience that mainly turns to video for
knowledge instead of text (which is most of Gen Z and Gen Alpha).

What Wikipedia offers an audience of text nerds (complimentary) is not =E2=
=80=94
primarily =E2=80=94 just more text. We have access to more published text t=
han we
know what to do with. Wikipedia offers a way to curate that text. For
someone who has read enough about a topic to know the worthwhile texts from
the trash, Wikipedia gives them a way to share they know about those texts.
(The fact that creating Wikipedia is mostly about creating new text for
readers is incidental, not essential, to this curation.)

I think this concept of communal curation is what's missing from the
video-centric information ecosystem. Just as most Wikipedia editors don't
want to write the sorts of text they read and cite, the nerds who immerse
themselves in learning from video don't necessarily want to create video.
But they do =E2=80=94 I believe =E2=80=94 want to help curate knowledge and=
 contribute what
they know about which (video) sources are worthwhile, and fold that into
the knowledge commons to help others.

I've created a prototype for "Wiki+" =E2=80=94 all the content of Wikipedia=
, plus
video (from YouTube, etc) about the topic. As a reader, you get everything
Wikipedia has to tell you about some topic, alongside the best of what
video creators have to say about it. As a curator, you can find the best
videos to complement the Wikipedia text, and add curation notes to provide
context and flag errors.

https://wikiplus.video

-Sage

On Tue, Apr 28, 2026 at 9:40=E2=80=AFAM James Heilman via Wikimedia-l <
[email protected]> wrote:

> We have had falling readership for years now (when it comes to health
> content at least). And yes lately this has picked up. People are turning =
to
> AI for answers, Google "search engine" now provides AI answers at the top
> and then the rest is mostly adverts and their partner Mayo Clinic.
>
> We missed video, when Youtube exploded in popularity as a learning
> platform. We had a collaboration with Ozmosis for video content but the
> community sent them away. We are only just now developing infrastructure =
to
> determine if people watch the small number of videos we currently have
> (with some saying this is not needed as they believe the answer is few).
>
> Yes we are turning into a niche product. The internet has turned into a
> walled garden, with folks staying within their apps like Twitter, Faceboo=
k,
> Youtube, Instagram, etc.
>
> But what should we do? Some of us are working on introducing limited vide=
o
> but growth is slow. We fund abstract Wikipedia to the toon of millions.
> Revolutionary projects are hard to invent. This is not something the WMF
> can solve. But us being more of a niche project is also not the end of th=
e
> world.
>
> James
>
>

--000000000000a7f272065648d72f
Content-Type: text/html; charset="UTF-8"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable

<div dir=3D"ltr"><div dir=3D"ltr"><div class=3D"gmail_default" style=3D"fon=
t-family:georgia,serif">TL;DR:=C2=A0<span style=3D"background-color:transpa=
rent"><a href=3D"https://wikiplus.video">https://wikiplus.video</a></span><=
/div><div class=3D"gmail_default" style=3D"font-family:georgia,serif"><br><=
/div><div class=3D"gmail_default" style=3D"font-family:georgia,serif">I see=
 the recent developments in AI and the death of traditional Google-style se=
arch as peripheral to our real problem: Wikipedia doesn&#39;t have anything=
 to offer to an audience that mainly turns to video for knowledge instead o=
f text (which is most of Gen Z and Gen Alpha).<br><br>What Wikipedia offers=
 an audience of text nerds (complimentary) is not =E2=80=94 primarily =E2=
=80=94 just more text. We have access to more published text than we know w=
hat to do with. Wikipedia offers a way to curate that text. For someone who=
 has read enough about a topic to know the worthwhile texts from the trash,=
 Wikipedia gives them a way to share they know about those texts. (The fact=
 that creating Wikipedia is mostly about creating new text for readers is i=
ncidental, not essential, to this curation.)<br><br>I think this concept of=
 communal curation is what&#39;s missing from the video-centric information=
 ecosystem. Just as most Wikipedia editors don&#39;t want to write the sort=
s of text they read and cite, the nerds who immerse themselves in learning =
from video don&#39;t necessarily want to create video. But they do =E2=80=
=94 I believe =E2=80=94 want to help curate knowledge and contribute what t=
hey know about which (video) sources are worthwhile, and fold that into the=
 knowledge commons to help others.<br><br>I&#39;ve created a prototype for =
&quot;Wiki+&quot; =E2=80=94 all the content of Wikipedia, plus video (from =
YouTube, etc) about the topic. As a reader, you get everything Wikipedia ha=
s to tell you about some topic, alongside the best of what video creators h=
ave to say about it. As a curator, you can find the best videos to compleme=
nt the Wikipedia text, and add curation notes to provide context and flag e=
rrors.<br><br><a href=3D"https://wikiplus.video">https://wikiplus.video</a>=
</div><div class=3D"gmail_default" style=3D"font-family:georgia,serif"><br>=
</div><div class=3D"gmail_default" style=3D"font-family:georgia,serif">-Sag=
e</div></div><br><div class=3D"gmail_quote gmail_quote_container"><div dir=
=3D"ltr" class=3D"gmail_attr">On Tue, Apr 28, 2026 at 9:40=E2=80=AFAM James=
 Heilman via Wikimedia-l &lt;<a href=3D"mailto:[email protected]=
org">[email protected]</a>&gt; wrote:<br></div><blockquote cl=
ass=3D"gmail_quote" style=3D"margin:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;border-left:1px solid=
 rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:1ex"><div dir=3D"ltr">We have had falling re=
adership for years now (when it comes to health content at least). And yes =
lately this has picked up. People are turning to AI for answers, Google &qu=
ot;search engine&quot; now provides AI answers at the top and then the rest=
 is mostly adverts and their partner Mayo Clinic.<div><br></div><div>We mis=
sed video, when Youtube exploded in popularity as a learning platform. We h=
ad a collaboration with Ozmosis for video content but the community sent th=
em away. We are only just now developing infrastructure to determine if peo=
ple watch the small number of videos we currently have (with some saying th=
is is not needed as they believe the answer is few).</div><div><br></div><d=
iv>Yes we are turning into a niche product. The internet has turned into a =
walled garden, with folks staying within their apps like Twitter, Facebook,=
 Youtube, Instagram, etc.=C2=A0</div><div><br></div><div>But what should we=
 do? Some of us are working on introducing limited video but growth is slow=
. We fund abstract Wikipedia to the toon of millions. Revolutionary project=
s are hard to invent. This is not something the WMF can solve. But us being=
 more of a niche project is also not the end of the world.</div><div><br></=
div><div>James</div></div><div class=3D"gmail_quote"><div dir=3D"ltr" class=
=3D"gmail_attr"><br></div></div></blockquote></div></div>

--000000000000a7f272065648d72f--

--===============7679046391504962736==
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit
Content-Disposition: inline

_______________________________________________
Wikimedia-l mailing list -- [email protected], guidelines at: https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines and https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia-l
Public archives at https://lists.wikimedia.org/hyperkitty/list/[email protected]/message/AQZFLXGR7JDV6MV4DMH6PVFVCVMP3F2H/
To unsubscribe send an email to wikimedia-l-leave-RusutVdil2icGmH+5r0DM0B+6BGkLq7r@public.gmane.org
--===============7679046391504962736==--