WaPo has an article on Web traffic trends; nothing new if you’ve been paying attention. But one item that caught my eye was the final paragraph:
Joining MySpace on the fast track was Wikipedia, the open encyclopedia that anyone can edit. Its traffic soared 275 percent last year following widespread media play over the posting of fake biographical material and similar controversies regarding the site’s accuracy.
So newspapers report on how lame Wikipedia is because of one fake bio, then millions of people visit the site to see what’s up, notice that it’s actually a pretty handy resource, and the site’s popularity grows by leaps and bounds.
I wonder if Britannica publishing half-page ads in the NY Times defending its accuracy will have the same effect.
The way things are going, more “bad publicity” for Wikipedia might just make it the uncontested victor in the battle with Britannica for encyclopedic dominance.