Wikipedia plagued by internal tension, rise of smartphones

Washington

WIKIPEDIA has come a long way since it started in 2001. With around 70,000 volunteers editing in more than 100 languages, it is by far the world's most popular reference site. Its future is also uncertain.

One of the biggest threats that it faces is the rise of smartphones as the dominant personal computing device. A recent Pew Research Center report found that 39 of the top 50 news sites received more traffic from mobile devices than from desktop and laptop computers, sales of which have declined for years.

This is a challenge for Wikipedia, which has always depended on contributors hunched over keyboards searching references, discussing changes and writing articles using a special markup code. Even before smartphones were widespread, studies consistently showed that these are daunting tasks for newcomers. "Not even our youngest and most computer-savvy participants acc…