The future of Wikipedia, breaking your filter bubble, Werewolves, Alabama, and why it is important to be nice to people, with Jimmy Wales

Informative and interesting conversation with one of the modern day heroes of the internet Jimmy Wales, we cover Wikipedia and the challenges of monetising it, his ongoing passion for innovation and entrepreneurship, the value of being raised in Alabama, Werewolves and his thoughts on the future of media and society.

The future of Wikipedia, breaking your filter bubble, Werewolves, Alabama, and why it is important to be nice to people, Jimmy Wales

Internet and technology entrepreneur Jimmy Wales, is founder of the online non-profit encyclopaedia Wikipedia and co-founder of the privately owned Wikia, Inc. including its entertainment media brand, Fandom powered by Wikia. Wales serves on the board of trustees of the Wikimedia Foundation, the non-profit charitable organisation he established to operate Wikipedia. In 2019, Jimmy launched WT Social – a news focused social network. In 2006 Jimmy was named in Time magazine’s ‘100 Most Influential People in the World’ for his role in creating Wikipedia.

Jimmy’s photo used with permission from here
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/8c/Jimmy_Wales-4.jpg/4096px-Jimmy_Wales-4.jpg

And, Jimmy’s wikipedia entry ->

Jimmy Donal Wales (born August 7, 1966) is an American-British^[4] Internet entrepreneur and former financial trader.^[2][5]He is also a co-founder of the online non-profit encyclopedia Wikipedia,^[6] and the for-profit web hosting company Wikia(later renamed to Fandom).^[7]

Wales was born in Huntsville, Alabama, where he attended Randolph School, a university-preparatory school.^[8][9][10] He earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in finance from Auburn University and the University of Alabama respectively.^[9]In graduate school, Wales taught at two universities; however, he departed before completing a PhD to take a job in finance and later worked as the research director of a Chicago futures and options firm.

In 1996, he and two partners founded Bomis, a web portal featuring entertainment and adult content. Bomis provided the initial funding for the free peer-reviewed encyclopedia, Nupedia (2000–2003), and its successor, Wikipedia. On January 15, 2001, with Larry Sanger and others, Wales launched Wikipedia—a free, open-content encyclopedia that enjoyed rapid growth and popularity. As Wikipedia’s public profile grew, he became its promoter and spokesman. Though he is historically credited as co-founder, he has disputed this, declaring himself the sole founder.^[11][12]

Wales serves on the Wikimedia Foundation Board of Trustees, the charity that he helped establish to operate Wikipedia, holding its board-appointed “community founder” seat. For his role in creating Wikipedia, which has become the world’s largest encyclopedia, Time named him one of “The 100 Most Influential People in the World” in 2006.^[13]

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