Wikipedia’s Increasingly Angry Pleas for Cash

Just like every other website currently in operation, when TSJ needs information, our first stop is Wikipedia. Granted, we then pretend we got that information from some other “more legitimate” source (again, like every other website on the planet), but still, without Wikipedia our job would be infinitely more difficult.

So when Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales strikes up his annual holiday plea for financial support, we can’t help but feel sympathetic to the cause. That’s why we’re sad to report that, this year, it appears the fundraising efforts may not be going too well. We don’t have any statistics to back that up, mostly because they haven’t been posted on Wikipedia yet so we don’t know where to find them, but we have another reason to believe our suspicions may be correct.

When the fundraising campaign started, Wikipedia readers were notified by way of a banner ad at the top of the site. At first, it looked like this.

Simple enough, right? Visitors who clicked on the “Read Now” link were taken to a page explaining the situation and were asked to donate whatever amount they were able to. But in recent days, we’ve noticed those banner ads have taken a slightly more menacing tone. Are these angry ads that have been popping up on Wikipedia lately a sign that the site’s financial situation has grown dire?

We’ve posted a few of the more inflammatory examples below. Check them out and decide for yourself.

All joking aside, Wikipedia is a pretty fantastic resource that’s more than worthy of your help. Go here to donate a buck or two if you can spare it. Someday when you have to help your kid write a paper about albino steam engines or something, you’ll be glad you helped keep Wikipedia afloat.