WikipediA...The Free Encyclopedia That Anyone Can Edit

OK, many of us have heard of Wikipedia and maybe even gone to it to look something up.  But, what exactly is it, who invented it and when?

Wikipedia was the first "wiki" ever created for the internet.  It was created in 1995 by a computer programmer from the United States named Ward Cunningham.  Cunningham started the first "wiki" and named it the "Wiki Wiki Web".  A "wiki" is similar to a blog only anyone can add or edit the actual content unlike a blog where the blogger provides the content and the readers are limited to being able to comment on the content.

Cunningham got the name from the Hawaiian term "wiki wiki" which means quick.  He had heard the word when visiting the Islands and having a creative mind he chose the term "Wiki Wiki Web" rather than his initial idea of the Quick Web.  It's certainly cooler and with the obvious alliteration to the "world wide web" it is a better name from a marketing perspective.  Wiki can also be a "backronym" for "What I Know Is."

Wikipedia is a tool for the masses.  It is easy to use.  Anyone can add, edit, remove and change the sites content and even its structure.  Think you know something about anything that no one else knows? Put it up on Wikipedia and add it to the people's encyclopedia.  To check out the type of content you will find just take a look at the entry for Sacramento, CA and see what you think. 

Aloha and mahalo for reading this post.