Wikimedia Community User Group Hong Kong/Press/Wikipedia Celebrates its 20th Year of Collaborative Free Knowledge

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Wikipedia Celebrates its 20th Year of Collaborative Free Knowledge

Hong Kong, 14 January, 2021 - Tomorrow, 15 January, marks the 20th anniversary of Wikipedia, the world’s free encyclopedia that anyone can edit. In the coming weeks, editors and readers around the world will celebrate free knowledge and their collective achievement over the past two decades. In Hong Kong and multiple cities around Asia and Oceania, Wikipedia editors will host a virtual celebration livecast over YouTube to share what they have achieved in this journey of knowledge. Titled Wiki 20 Countdown in Asia-Pacific, it would be streamed on 16 January 2021 at 20:00 HKT on the channel Wikipedia Weekly Network (https://www.youtube.com/c/WikipediaWeekly/).

Wikipedia launched on 15 January 2001 with a bold vision: a world in which every single human being can freely share in the sum of all knowledge. At the time, the idea that people around the world would collaborate to build an encyclopedia—for free—seemed unbelievable. Twenty years later, Wikipedia has become the single largest collaborative knowledge project known to human history. Since then, Wikipedia has grown to a collection of more than 53 million articles across 300 languages, visited more than 15 million times every month, and contributed to by more than 250,000 volunteers every month. Volunteers use reliable sources to verify the facts in articles. The sources they use are referenced and listed at the bottom of each article, so readers know where the information comes from. Wikipedia contributors also monitor articles for bias or false information. When many different people contribute to an article, it becomes more neutral, reliable, and trusted.

As of this 20th anniversary, one-third of those alive today have never known a world without Wikipedia. While much of the internet has evolved into a private space, Wikipedia serves everyone on Earth, of all backgrounds and ages. It is the only top-10 website that's not-for-profit. It is created by thousands of volunteers and sustained by millions of donors who support free knowledge. It is trial and error; research and editing; the perfect example of human collaboration on the internet.

Today, we celebrate not only Wikipedia, but all of the projects, partnerships, events, and joy it has spurred over the past 20 years, with many still to come. The Wikimedia community around the world are hosting parties and other events, virtually or in person, to bring together community members and celebrate Wikipedia’s 20th birthday. Wikimedia Community User Group Hong Kong would collaborate with other Wikipedians from around Asia and Oceania to host a livestream session on the Wikipedia Weekly Network YouTube channel (https://www.youtube.com/c/WikipediaWeekly) to celebrate while socially distancing. The livestream is scheduled on 16 January 2021 (Saturday) at 20:00 HKT.

If you’d like to get involved, check out the dedicated Wikipedia 20 webpage (https://20.wikipedia.org) where events are being coordinated. You can use social media to tell us what Wikipedia means to you by tagging @Wikipedia and using the hashtag #Wikipedia20.

About Wikipedia

Wikipedia is the largest collection of collaboratively built free knowledge in human history. It is a collaborative creation that has been added to and edited by millions of people from around the globe since it was created in 2001: anyone can edit it, at any time. Wikipedia is offered in more than 300 languages and contains more than 53 million articles. It is visited more than 15 million times every month, from every corner of the world. Wikipedia’s content is contributed by more than 250,000 volunteers every month. Volunteers around the world work together to set knowledge free. They upload photos, fix typos, chase sources, write code, and start articles all to sustain the dream of a world where every human has access to the sum of the world’s knowledge.

About Wikimedia Community User Group Hong Kong

Wikimedia Community User Group Hong Kong is the Wikimedia Movement affiliate serving Wikipedians and Wikimedians from all projects in the Hong Kong SAR. Founded in 2017, we strive to advocate and promote the Movement and free knowledge for the city. We have hosted a variety of activities to build capacity and foster connections between Wikimedians. We have also partnered with educational institutions and cultural organisations to build knowledge and document memories hand-in-hand.

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二十載自由知識：維基百科創立二十週年

香港，2021年1月14日－人人均可編輯的自由線上百科全書維基百科，將於明天，2021年1月15日正式步入二十週年。在未來數週，世界各地的維基百科編者、讀者將以不同形式，慶祝這份自由知識瑰寶的成果，和一眾維基百科人在二十年間的貢獻。香港維基百科人將與來自亞太地區的眾多維基百科編者，共同在YouTube頻道Wikipedia Weekly Network (https://www.youtube.com/c/WikipediaWeekly/) 上直播節目，在社交距離下慶祝維基百科的二十歲生日。直播節目Wiki 20 Countdown in Asia-Pacific將於2021年1月16日（星期六）晚上8時起在該頻道上首播。

2001年1月15日，維基百科抱著「人人皆可自由享用世上知識的總和」這個大膽的宏願正式成立。相信當時沒有多少人能想像，由全球群眾合作建立百科全書的想法可以付諸實現。二十年後，維基百科已成為有史以來最大的協作知識計劃。今天的維基百科擁有超過300種語言版本，約5,300萬篇條目，每月使用量超過1,500萬人次，每月有超過25萬名義務編者作出貢獻。維基百科的編者須使用可靠的資料來源，來驗證條目中的各項事實。維基百科每篇條目的底部，均列出了條目引用的資料，讓讀者輕易查核消息來源。維基百科的編者還會監視和修正條目上的任何偏見或假消息。當眾多不同的人編輯條目時，條目變得更中立、可靠和值得信賴。

截至維基百科二十週年紀念日，世上約三分之一的人從沒經歷過沒有維基百科的世界。今天的互聯網已逐漸發展成為私有空間，但維基百科仍然堅持自由開放，為地球上不論年齡和背景的所有人提供服務。維基百科是世界十大網站當中，唯一的非商業、非盈利網站。它是由成千上萬的志願者編寫而成的，並由過百萬名支持自由知識理念的捐助者支持。這是志願者們反覆試驗、研究和編輯的成果，可謂互聯網上人類協作的完美典範。

今天我們不僅慶祝維基百科本身，還慶祝維基百科在過去二十年中激發的所有計劃、夥伴關係、社群活動和歡樂，還有總總仍會繼續。全球的維基百科人將在線上、線下主持聚會和其他活動，聚集社群成員並慶祝維基百科的二十歲生日。香港維基社群用戶組將與來自亞洲和大洋洲的其他維基百科人合作，在 Wikipedia Weekly Network YouTube頻道 (https://www.youtube.com/c/WikipediaWeekly) 上舉辦直播節目，慶祝維基百科二十週年的大日子。首播時間定於2021年1月16日（星期六）香港時間晚上8時。

如果你想參與維基百科二十週年的慶祝活動，你可以查看Wikipedia 20專用網頁(https://20.wikipedia.org) ，也可以在各社交媒體上 tag @Wikipedia 和 hashtag #Wikipedia20 分享維基百科二十週年的喜悅。

關於維基百科

維基百科是人類史上最大的協作自由知識計劃。作為一部人人均可編寫的百科全書，自2001年成立以來，全球已有數以百萬計的人參與了編輯維基百科的共同創作。維基百科擁有超過300種語言版本，包括超過5,300萬篇條目，每月來自世界每個角落的使用量超過1,500萬人次。每月有超過25萬名義務編者為維基百科作出貢獻：世界各地的維基百科人共同努力，釋放知識。維基百科人上傳照片、修正錯別字、追尋資料來源、編寫程式碼、撰寫條目，一起追求「人人皆可自由享用世上知識的總和」這份夢想。

關於香港維基社群用戶組

香港維基社群用戶組是維基媒體運動的附屬組織，為香港的維基百科人和維基媒體編者、讀者服務。成立於2017年，我們致力促進香港的自由文化和自由知識運動。我們舉辦各種活動為維基人賦能，在維基人之間建立聯繫。我們亦與教育機構和文化組織合作，共同建立知識和保存記憶。

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