Wikis, the best known of which is Wikipedia, are websites that have seemed to literally explode, and using the wisdom of the crowds, have evolved into an integral part of the internet experience.
The concept of gathering all of the world's knowledge into an easy and accessible location is one that has been ongoing throughout societies for thousands of years, as humanity attempts to make sense of the world around it. In fact, the first recorded use of an encyclopedia was at the Library at Alexandria in ancient Egypt.
So, the origins of encyclopedia date back quite far - but how does this relate to wikipedia?
While it's true that Wikipedia is significantly different from the traditional encyclopedia, the inspiration of Wikipedia was to use the power of "distributed thought", which essentially allows everyone to play a part in accomplishing a task, as opposed to one monopoly controlling the whole thing.
This is what allowed Wikipedia to become so highly engrained into the internet world, as it not only became a tool for knowledge, but it also became something greater - a social revolution. This revolution was only enhanced by the fact that Wikipedia adopted the GNU license, and thus, open-source lovers began to help Wikipedia even more.
What's in a Name?
The name Wikipedia derives from two words, wiki and encyclopedia. The word wiki in Hawaiian means quick, and at the Honolulu International Airport, the shuttles between terminals are known as the wiki wiki busses (implying great speed). Thus, Wikipedia is the name for an encyclopedia in which encyclopedial knowledge can be found very quickly, and this is exactly what it has become.
Today, on the internet, a wiki refers to any website which consists of hyperlinked webpages, which can be edited and commented upon by another user.
It seems that the importance and use of these quick, useful websites will remain ingrained in the internet experience for years to come!
Long live the Wiki!
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