Earlier tonight, I decided to pose a question to my followers on twitter. The question was this : What would happen if Wikipedia went away? I thought of this question chiefly because of the recent aggressive donation campaign launched by Wikipedia. The image of Jimmy Wales’ mug graces each and every page. How wonderful. In any event, my friend who goes by cynicalbrit94 on twitter provided some very interesting responses. I’m publishing them here in a slightly more readable format.

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Original Question: In the midst of Wikipedia’s very aggressive donation campaign, I pose a question to everyone: What would life be like without wikipedia?

Cynicalbrit94’s response: 

Slightly less informative for those who hate research.

My follow up response: Would you say there would be less misinformation out there? Would the paid electronic encyclopedia come back?

Cynicalbrit94’s second response: 

1) Less people would think they understand shit that everybody else know they do not understand.

2) Wikipedia is the ultimate example of freedom of information. Without it things would be a bit more foggy for everyone.

3) If wikipedia was to go away now, the paid encyclopedia would not come back in a hugely successful way. People are used to the wikipedia system which allows them to obtain information freely and easily. I think people will research before they pay

I thought these responses were quite interesting, and I agree with them. Just a think piece.