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When and how will Wikipedia’s death spiral play out?  This is difficult to say with any certainty.  The only thing one can say with confidence is that The Six Rotten Pillars will continue to act together to erode confidence in WP, eventually leading to a sustained decrease in donations of both money and labor to the website.  As both a charity and a volunteer project, such donations are WP’s lifeblood.  It cannot survive without them.

When and how will Wikipedia’s death spiral play out?  This is difficult to say with any certainty.  The only thing one can say with confidence is that The Six Rotten Pillars will continue to act together to erode confidence in WP, eventually leading to a sustained decrease in donations of both money and labor to the website.  As both a charity and a volunteer project, such donations are WP’s lifeblood.  It cannot survive without them.

WP’s demise desirable for various reasons.  The most commonly cited reasons are the harm it does to the cause of spreading human knowledge and the harm it does to individual human beings.  These are weighty and worthy reasons, as WP acts as a platform for libel, revenge, disinformation and the exploitation of the addicted and mentally ill.  But there is another reason: due to its huge popularity and sheer size, WP syphons off much time, effort and resources that might well otherwise go to more worthy projects and pursuits.

WP’s demise desirable for various reasons.  The most commonly cited reasons are the harm it does to the cause of spreading human knowledge and the harm it does to individual human beings.  These are weighty and worthy reasons, as Wikipedia acts as a platform for libel, revenge, disinformation and the exploitation of the addicted and mentally ill.  But there is another reason: due to its huge popularity and sheer size, Wikipedia syphons off much time, effort and resources that might well otherwise go to more worthy projects and pursuits.

Add to this that it will likely take WP’s demise to get the scales to fall from the eyes of many of its apologists in order for them to realize its design was fatally flawed from the start.  It is certain, however, that there are a few bitter-enders for whom even WP’s utter destruction as a website will not be sufficient.  They will always blame the trolls, the vandals, the “POV pushers”, the spammers, media “enemies”, and the “haters at WR” for WP’s fall.  In other words, practically everyone ''except themselves''.  They will never come to realize that they contained within themselves a fatal mindset that there was never really that much wrong with “the wiki”; that all that is required is a few blocks, a few desysoppings and a few policy tweaks to make WP better than ever.  I call this a “fatal” mindset because it is truly fatal for WP.  It is a mentality shared not only among the cabalistas, but also by many other dedicated WP users, and it very effectively stands in way of there ever being any meaningful reform to save WP from itself.  One could even call it “The Seventh Rotten Pillar of Wikipedia”.

Add to this that it will likely take WP’s demise to get the scales to fall from the eyes of many of its apologists in order for them to realize its design was fatally flawed from the start.  It is certain, however, that there are a few bitter-enders for whom even WP’s utter destruction as a website will not be sufficient.  They will always blame the trolls, the vandals, the “POV pushers”, the spammers, media “enemies”, and the “haters at WR” for WP’s fall.  In other words, practically everyone ''except themselves''.  They will never come to realize that they contained within themselves a fatal mindset that there was never really that much wrong with “the wiki”; that all that is required is a few blocks, a few desysoppings and a few policy tweaks to make Wikipedia better than ever.  I call this a “fatal” mindset because it is truly fatal for WP.  It is a mentality shared not only among the cabalistas, but also by many other dedicated Wikipedia users, and it very effectively stands in way of there ever being any meaningful reform to save Wikipedia from itself.  One could even call it “The Seventh Rotten Pillar of Wikipedia”.

Despite all the strong criticism made here, this writer still believes that a free, online and reliable general use encyclopedia is a worthy goal, and looks forward to the day there will be one.  But that encyclopedia will never be WP, sadly.  The conditions needed for the reform of WP do not exist, nor does it appear they ever will.  The media and public will not remain forever blind to the deep flaws of WP.  WP is simply too big and its dysfunction too deep to hide or obscure forever.  Perhaps one day a group of former wikipedians, left sadder but far wiser by the decline and fall of WP, will band together and get to work on a true encyclopedia that is deserving of our efforts.  This writer, for one, would like that.  It is comforting to think that something good and worthy can eventually arise from the pit of agony and dysfunction that is Wikipedia.

Despite all the strong criticism made here, there is no doubt that a free, online and reliable general use encyclopedia is a worthy goal, and we should look forward to the day there will be one.  But that encyclopedia will never be WP, sadly.  The conditions needed for the reform of Wikipedia do not exist, nor does it appear they ever will.  The media and public will not remain forever blind to the deep flaws of WP.  Wikipedia is simply too big and its dysfunction too deep to hide or obscure forever.  Perhaps one day a group of former wikipedians, left sadder but far wiser by the decline and fall of WP, will band together and get to work on a true encyclopedia that is deserving of our efforts.  This writer, for one, would like that.  It is comforting to think that something good and worthy can eventually arise from the pit of agony and dysfunction that is Wikipedia.