If you’ve ever used Wikipedia(lbr, you have), you know how useful it is. I use Wikipedia constantly.
The thing about Wikipedia is that it is non-profit and runs entirely off donations. That’s why you don’t see ads on their site and you don’t have shit happening with Wikipedia the way things are happening with Tumblr. It’s there as a beacon of knowledge for everyone to benefit from.
The downside to having a website as big and high-traffic as that is that you’ve gotta have massive, beefy servers keeping it running. That shit is expensive. I don’t mean buying a venti and a breakfast sandwich from Starbucks expensive, I mean tens of thousands of dollars expensive.
I’m posting this because I just got a banner from Wikipedia reminding me that they need donations and, as a poor, disabled person, I had to sit there and stare at it for a minute and think about if I could donate. Usually I just close it and try not to think about it, but this time, with all the shit happening with Tumblr and other websites due to being run by corporations, I really sat and thought about it.
And honestly? I’m not making very much money right now. I’m living with my sister and barely making enough to pay for necessities, but I think I might pitch in ten bucks next time I get paid.
They say if everyone donated $2.75, they could stay afloat a lot better. So take a moment to consider that. What is $2.75? A large fry from McDonalds? A tall Starbucks? It’s cheaper than a tall at Starbucks, let’s be honest. A bag of chips?
That’s really not that much. Donating to a cause feels a lot like throwing money into a wishing well, like a frivolous use of money that you won’t see again. But it isn’t. We see the fruits of donations every single time we use Wikipedia. It’s a well-made site with a very active team of people maintaining it as well as countless contributors who add new articles all the time.
Don’t let Wikipedia run out of money to the point where they have to rely on a corporation to keep their servers running.
Don’t let Wikipedia become the next Tumblr!
I know a lot of you are too young or too new to the community to remember, but Tumblr used to be ad free just like Wikipedia. They ran on investments iirc and when they got big enough, they were forced to sell out to Yahoo because they couldn’t keep up with server costs.
If people don’t help Wikipedia by donating what they’re able to, Wikipedia will end up just like Tumblr is now, wrestling with corporations looking to make money from people’s search data and ad views.
Imagine the impact censorship would have on an informational treasure trove like Wikipedia and consider if you’d be able to spare less than three bucks the next time you get paid.
Wikipedia is a force of good in this world that we can’t afford to lose.
