Wikipedia's Most-Read Pages: Platforms, Nations and a Rolling Obituary Index
Since mid-2015, Wikipedia's article-level pageview statistics have revealed consistent trends among top entries, which encompass prominent nations, digital platforms, well-known personalities, and significant events from the 20th century. The article on the United States garners interest across various topics and has been semi-protected to prevent vandalism, particularly seeing increased views during presidential election periods. YouTube's entry, which highlights its establishment in 2005 by Chad Hurley, Steve Chen, and Jawed Karim, experiences steady traffic, with a notable increase following Neal Mohan's appointment as CEO in 2023. Facebook's page, detailing its inception in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg and others, sees spikes amid privacy controversies. Wikipedia's own article, launched in January 2001 by Jimmy Wales and Larry Sanger, serves as a resource for media literacy. Other significant entries include World War II, India, Michael Jackson, Instagram, and Barack Obama.
Key facts
- Article-level Wikipedia pageview data only reaches back to mid-2015, when the Wikimedia Foundation began releasing granular traffic logs
- The United States article has spent long stretches under semi-protection, blocking edits from unregistered and very new accounts
- YouTube was founded in 2005 by Chad Hurley, Steve Chen and Jawed Karim and sold to Google in 2006
- Neal Mohan became YouTube chief executive in 2023, following Susan Wojcicki's nine-year tenure
- Facebook was founded at Harvard in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg and four fellow students and reorganized under Meta Platforms in 2021
- Wikipedia was founded in January 2001 by Jimmy Wales and Larry Sanger
- Michael Jackson's death on June 25, 2009 briefly made Wikipedia unreachable, and "Leaving Neverland" aired on HBO in March 2019
- Instagram launched on iOS in October 2010 under Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger; Facebook announced its roughly $1 billion acquisition in April 2012
Entities
Artists
- Mark Zuckerberg
- Chad Hurley
- Steve Chen
- Jawed Karim
- Neal Mohan
- Susan Wojcicki
- Jimmy Wales
- Larry Sanger
- Michael Jackson
- Kevin Systrom
- Mike Krieger
- Barack Obama
- Michelle Obama
- Erwin Rommel
Institutions
- Wikipedia
- Wikimedia Foundation
- YouTube
- Meta Platforms
- Harvard University
- HBO
- Jackson 5
- Cirque du Soleil
- Mandalay Bay
- Obama Foundation
- Obama Presidential Center
- Indian Space Research Organisation
- United Nations
- Snapchat
- TikTok
- Quartz
Locations
- United States
- India
- Hawaii
- Indonesia
- Chicago
- Las Vegas
- Europe
- North Africa
- Pacific
- Stalingrad
- Midway
- Pearl Harbor
- Silicon Valley
- Japan
- Germany
- United Kingdom
Sources
- Quartz —