Wikipedia, the world’s largest information website, has revealed that the number of users visiting its website has decreased by about 8% over the past year, with AI search systems and video social platforms being cited as the main reasons. According to the technology website Wikipedia, the number of people viewing or reading its website has decreased by about 8% in the past year. This decline was particularly noticeable in the past few months, when Wikipedia updated its systems and found that most of the traffic to the website in May and June was actually from automated machines (bots), not humans. According to Wikipedia, a major reason for the decrease in traffic is that search engines now show users answers directly, thus eliminating the need for people to visit the website, which has reduced the number of users visiting sites like Wikipedia. In addition, young people are now using social media platforms more to obtain information, where videos are available and they prefer to watch videos rather than open links. The Wikimedia Foundation, the organization that creates Wikipedia, says that although fewer people are visiting the website now, they are still obtaining Wikipedia information from various sources, meaning that people visit the website less, but their access to information is maintained. However, this situation also has some negative effects. According to the Wikimedia Foundation, if the number of users visiting the website decreases further, the volunteers who write and update Wikipedia content will become less active, and the number of donors may also decrease, making it difficult to cover the costs of running the website. The Wikimedia Foundation says it is taking various steps to address the issue, including making information sources more transparent so that users know where the information is taken from, as well as creating special teams to reach new readers.
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