A cracked smartphone screen showing a Wikipedia homepage with a downward trending graph, a glowing AI brain icon and a video play button icon hovering over it, digital art.
A cracked smartphone screen showing a Wikipedia homepage with a downward trending graph, a glowing AI brain icon and a video play button icon hovering over it, digital art.

Wikipedia Says Traffic Is Falling Due to AI Search Summaries and Social Video

Wikipedia has reported an 8% year-over-year decline in human page views, attributing this decrease to the growing influence of generative AI and social media on information-seeking behaviors. Marshall Miller of the Wikimedia Foundation highlighted that search engines are increasingly providing direct answers through AI-generated summaries, reducing the need for users to visit external sites like Wikipedia. Additionally, younger audiences are turning to social video platforms such as TikTok and YouTube for information, further impacting Wikipedia's traffic.

This shift poses challenges for Wikipedia, as fewer visits may lead to a decline in volunteer contributions and individual donations, both crucial for maintaining and expanding the platform's content. In response, the Wikimedia Foundation is developing a new framework for content attribution and forming teams to engage new readers. They also encourage AI, search, and social media companies that utilize Wikipedia's content to direct more traffic back to the site.

The broader trend indicates a fundamental change in how users access information, with AI-generated summaries and social media platforms providing quick answers that bypass traditional websites. This evolution underscores the need for content platforms like Wikipedia to adapt and find new ways to engage users directly.

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