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So, my take aways from this interview: He doesn't know how he got the attention of the press. He doesn't know why exactly his product succeeded. He has no tips

by danskil 17y ago

So, my take aways from this interview: He doesn't know how he got the attention of the press. He doesn't know why exactly his product succeeded. He has no tips on any secrets of what got Wikipedia going. The one thing i got out of this interview: Reporters will not understand you and will not understand your product. Interview is informative if you're interested in wikipedia history, such as how it got started. I like the idea of the series though, Gaining "Traction" can be a black art, would be interested in more material.

epi0Bauqu 17y ago
I think that's a bit harsh. I agree with the general point that Wikipedia was a right idea at the right time success. However, Wikia was another story entirely. There were tons of wiki startups out there, and they are the ones that got traction. More specifically: > He doesn't know how he got the attention of the press. I think Jimmy would say (by inferring from the end of the interview) that his simple vision attracted the attention of the press, i.e. "a free encyclopedia for anyone." He says at the beginning as well that nupedia had a decent amount of press on that vision alone, even though that project wasn't successful. > He doesn't know why exactly his product succeeded. I think it's pretty clear from this interview (reading between the lines) that it is a combination of community building and SEO. He says 60-70% of traffic comes from search engines. Maybe it was even higher early on. He built a community interested in his core vision (that would create the articles) and then capitalized on SEO. He mentions how on 9/11 his pages were sought after for their unique content. It's basically a Demand Media strategy before Demand Media. > He has no tips on any secrets of what got Wikipedia going. I think he gave actionable advice to wiki creators that they have to focus on getting editors. He thinks you do that by reaching out to people who share your core vision. His case was easier because it was so general, but it has worked for specific subjects a few hundred times on Wikia. I hope to interview Angela from Wikia (who he mentioned) to get more specifics on that.

by danskil 17y ago

epi0Bauqu 17y ago

I think that's a bit harsh. I agree with the general point that Wikipedia was a right idea at the right time success. However, Wikia was another story entirely. There were tons of wiki startups out there, and they are the ones that got traction. More specifically: > He doesn't know how he got the attention of the press. I think Jimmy would say (by inferring from the end of the interview) that his simple vision attracted the attention of the press, i.e. "a free encyclopedia for anyone." He says at the beginning as well that nupedia had a decent amount of press on that vision alone, even though that project wasn't successful. > He doesn't know why exactly his product succeeded. I think it's pretty clear from this interview (reading between the lines) that it is a combination of community building and SEO. He says 60-70% of traffic comes from search engines. Maybe it was even higher early on. He built a community interested in his core vision (that would create the articles) and then capitalized on SEO. He mentions how on 9/11 his pages were sought after for their unique content. It's basically a Demand Media strategy before Demand Media. > He has no tips on any secrets of what got Wikipedia going. I think he gave actionable advice to wiki creators that they have to focus on getting editors. He thinks you do that by reaching out to people who share your core vision. His case was easier because it was so general, but it has worked for specific subjects a few hundred times on Wikia. I hope to interview Angela from Wikia (who he mentioned) to get more specifics on that.