---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Megan Hernandez <mhernandez@wikimedia.org>
Date: Sun, Dec 8, 2013 at 9:12 AM
Subject: [Wikimedia-l] Readers love you
To: Wikimedia Mailing List <wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org>


Hi everyone,

Each year that we run the fundraiser, readers write in really lovely notes.
 Please take two minutes to listen to our readers.

Enjoy!


The story I like to tell is that whilst I had heard of Wikipedia but only
looked at it a few times thereafter, when the 2004 Tsunami occurred the day
after Christmas, mainstream news organisations (TV, newspapers) were all
away from their offices. That day I turned to Wikipedia to try to
understand the scale of the event. It was Wiki editors 'on the ground' that
created the sort of information and coverage usually considered the
province of rolling news organisations only. This I now dub my 'Wiki
Epiphany'.


Wikipedia is an amazing service. Almost always, I am able to find
information on subjects I am interested in. Thanks and Kudos to all staff
and volunteers!!

My world has been opened up time and time again by Wikipedia. From studying
Detroit and computer programming to finding unbiased information on
America's history, Wikipedia has been a beacon of free speech and
information for over ten years. Sometimes, I just sit in awe of the fact
that the greatest accomplishment of man was assembled mostly by volunteers,
people who just wanted to make the world a better place.

Its made life easier for me and expanded my knowledge by allowing me to
more easily find trusted and verified information on the internet. It
organizes all the noise out there on the web and gives a great concise to
the point fact summary of what I want to know. Thank you and thank you to
the millions of volunteer editors. Wikipedia is a necessity in my life and
not just a luxury.

Wikipedia is a source of unbiased information. The caveats and notes from
the editors alert to questionable information. The links within the
articles are amazingly helpful and have led me on wonderful information
expeditions.

I'd like to thank the entire staff of wikipedia and its editors for my high
school graduation.

It's impossible to put in words. I cannot imagine Planet Earth without it
[Wikipedia]. It has changed my life forever.

My 17 year old son uses you constantly. You have made him a smarter human
being.

You guys are ^^%$#&* unbelievably awesome, keep it up!

web sites like Wikipedia are invaluable and I felt it my duty to try help
even if only a tad.

so much of the Internet has turned into self serving and unreliable junque;
so I am very, very grateful for the Wiki resource.

I regard "W" as the best and most reliable source of information available
anywhere. I don't know how you do it so please keep on with your Excellence
}i{ < That;s a butterfly for you
This is one of the best things on the internet. It goes back to the
original development of the internet and has remained ethical and true to
its origins. There appears to be no discrimination and it is available to
everyone at no cost.

I am 60 years old and I am still so cruious and interested in so many
things. Wikipedia gives me reasonable information whenever I may want it.


I use wikipedia all the time and credit it more toward my education than
college did!


It's nice to see humanity get together without any external forces for a
common good!


I am inspired by the high quality of Wikipedia and the high ideals of its
founder and its myriad contributors and editors. What a magnificent
collaborative human achievement you are building!


It has simultaneously answered and given me more questions than I can
comprehend.
This represents to me what college should be like. Free and collective
knowledge by and for all.

When I want to know something, I google it and 99% of the time Wikipedia
has what I want to know. Even drinking arguments, about what Biff from Back
to the Future is doing now, are solved by Wikipedia. It's all there.

Without Wikipedia I would be about 30% less intelligent. :(

it is like a gift from the gods of knowledge

I am a teacher and a writer, and I am amazed how often Wikipedia is useful
to me. I consider Wikipedia to be one of the great democratic projects
maybe ever, and it is one of the reasons why I try to stay optimistic about
the world. Thank you.

I honestly feel like the next generation of humans in general, will be much
smarter than the previous because of this site. Well, at least they will
know a whole lot more useless shit. I've heard (don't know for sure if it's
true, doesn't matter) that the bigger a person's brain is, typically, the
smarter that person is. So, if that is true, I think it's likely that
because of this site, in about 50 years, humans will have huge heads. Their
heads will look like the aliens' heads did in "attack from mars." If y'all
ever get into commercials for whatever reason, you could use that and
probably make it really funny :)

It's like that reliable family member or friend who's an expert at
something or the other.

I extend my heartfelt thanks to the men and women who tirelessly work on
keeping Wikipedia the wonderful website it is.

There's nothing you can't find on Wikipedia, I'd be shattered if it was
shut down.

As a computing and communications engineer I imagined an information
resource like Wikipedia before the Internet existed. I'm happy I didn't
have to be the one to build it.

My 72 year old life is easier and more fun. I read a lot and look things up
all the time, and that is now easy. That itself is fun.

It gives me hope and makes me feel connected to an invisible but powerful
community. And it settles lots of arguments before they get out of hand at
the dinner table!!!

My Dad's addicted to Wikipedia. Seriously. I can't think of a single day
I've seen him not go on here at least once. The man craves knowledge, and
one blue link leads to another. Soon enough, he has dozens of tabs open
leading to a million different things. As I hear quite often, I am my
father's daughter. I was in third period US History today reading the page
on Dmitri Kabalevsky during our homework time. I came on here right now to
make sure it would be okay to refer to France as Gallia in the book I'm
attempting to write. I come on here so many times a day, you wouldn't even
believe. I absolutely love the system you all work so hard to run, and I
hope Wikipedia stays online and banner free for dozens of years to come!
You have my full support. :)

100 years ago they said we would have flying cars, instead we got smart
phones with access to almost every book ever written, fair trade.

When i was a kid, I used to watch 'Star Trek". When Captain Kirk had a
question asked Mr. Spock and the computer with female voice. Wikipedia is a
combination of Mr. Spock and Computer.

It was my constant savior through the pitch-black hell that was high school
and has guided me through college and into my career as a nurse.

I have lived in the world without Wikipedia but it was darkish all the time
and I never want to live in our world without it again.

Wikipedia is like a playground for me. I love you for what you do.

It is easy to find reliable or at least semi-reliable information on just
about any person, place, or thing that exists. Even if it's something as
stupid as "white chocolate". The reason I was on wikipedia this evening.
Thank you.

"Look it up" is what our dad always told us when we asked a question, even
if he knew the answer. Back then we ran to the encyclopedia or dictionary;
now it's Wikipedia. Different but the same. And beyond Wikipedia's being a
tool to learn something, it makes me happy to know there are smarties out
there, collaborating in this vital, fluid, living system, spreading
knowledge. Thank you!


I remember researching in the days of microfiche & card catalogs! This is
like having the entire Encyclopedia Britannica, the OED, and so much more
at your fingertips!
I just truly enjoy getting the succinct and straight info without a lot of
bullshit.


I passed my university degree, settled numerous arguments, checked sports
stats, researched my great grandfather and just today found out the
probable origin of sheep farming! The list goes on... and on…

was one of those kids who read the encyclopedia for fun, so Wikipedia took
that to the next level.

Wikipedia is what the internet can be.


I use Wikipedia to live my life.

I, as an ordinary citizen, am able to learn and access information in a way
that would make preeminent scholars of 3000-odd years fall to their knees
and weep with joy and shock.



--

Megan Hernandez

Director of Online Fundraising
Wikimedia Foundation
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