Wikipedia is one of the greatest things to come out of the Internet. I mean, let’s be honest here. We can now all be “experts” on something just by reading a Wiki page. And, the fine folks at Wikimedia, who are part of a global mission to “bring free educational content to the world” have done it again with the announcement of their project Wikivoyage – the free worldwide travel guide that anyone can edit.
Why WikiVoyage is Killer
First, this is the 12th official project from Wikimeda, and just like Wikipedia and the other sister sites, Wikivoyage is free to edit and built on the collaborative efforts of volunteers from all over the world. Oh yeah, and there’s no pesky ads. The site is available in 9 languages, and right now there are already 50,000 articles being improved by 200 volunteers. The content is under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 license which means it’s pretty much free for you to do whatever you please with it. Free knowledge, baby. Share the love.
Wikivoyage actually started in 2006 in German and Italian with the support of the German non-profit Wikivoyage Association. The site has since found a new home over at the Wikimedia Foundation and launched Stateside in time to help blow out the candles for Wikipedia’s 12th birthday. Aww.
The Wikivoyage Buzz
Sue Gardner, Executive Director of Wikimedia Foundation, says there’s a huge demand for online travel resources that are comprehensive and non-comemrcial. And, I totally agree. I’ve used Tripadvisor for years to find travel info and advice, but it’s gotten so crowded with ads and user-content that I find it tricky to navigate and hard on the eyes (just my two-cents). Sue believes that Wikivoyage is already a wonderful and helpful service for travelers that will continue to get better with the help of Wikimedia’s global editing community.
Join The Wikivoyage
If you’re a traveler, the site encourages you to become part of the Wikivoyage community by contributing non-commercial, independent content for the site. There is also a call for content mergers, image editors, and all-around site clean-uppers to make Wikivoyage the number one travel resource on the web.
