Wikipedia, which has always been one of the most visited websites in the world, is now seeing a major drop in its traffic. The reason as suggested by experts is the growing use of artificial intelligence (AI) chatbots and various social media platforms by the users that give them instant answers without even visiting any external websites.
For years, Wikipedia has always been a trusted source for every kind of quick and detailed information. People earlier used to search on Google and then click on Wikipedia for any further kind of explanation on that topic.
But now, with the rise of various upcoming AI tools like the ChatGPT and Google’s Gemini, many users can simply ask questions directly on these platforms and get summarized answers, all of that in seconds.
As a result there are just fewer people who are visiting Wikipedia pages nowadays.
Recent reports have also showed that Wikipedia’s traffic has declined majorly over the past year. Search results that once led the users to Wikipedia are now not that anymore. Those searches are now being answered directly in AI summaries or even through social media posts.
Various platforms like TikTok, Instagram, and X (formerly Twitter) have now became quite popular for quick facts, news, and even the educational videos. This trend has now reduced the need for users to visit any kind of traditional information websites like the Wikepedia.
According to data which have been extracted from the analytics firms, the fall in the web traffic of Wikipedia visits has become mostly a part of a larger shift in how people from all over consume information. Many users now do not go for long answers. They prefer short, visual, summarised or AI-generated content instead of reading long articles.
Younger audiences are the ones who especially rely more on social media for learning or surfing about new topics, be it entertainment, or be it news updates.
The Wikimedia Foundation, which runs Wikipedia, have acknowledged the change in the recent traffic but said the platform remains an important source of reliable information. They have also noticed that AI has also sometimes used Wikipedia information to show theirs.
