Citizendium was meant to represent an advance on Wikipedia. Compared to the flame wars and defacement that occasionally blight articles on the popular online encyclopedia, Citizendium founder Larry Sanger wanted to create a place for the world to share its knowledge in a more controlled atmosphere. He saw it as somewhere that expertise would be given its due and where the discussion could rise above the rabble (see today’s news for Wikipedia’s own latest attempt to control the crowd).
It only added to the intrigue that Sanger and Jimmy Wales, Wikipedia’s Svengali, had fallen out badly – indeed, were in dispute over how much credit each should get for the creation of Wikipedia in the first place (see Sanger’s Wikipedia page for more).
Now, Sanger tells me, he wants to move on from Citizendium, and is looking for a suitable institution to take over management of his pet project – though he promises he will not leave it in the lurch (see the comment added below).At best, Citizendium could be called a qualified success. Launched in March 2007, it currently lists 11,810 articles – 2,999,674 fewer than the English-language version of Wikipedia.
While Sanger concedes it has been slow going so far, he argues that Citizendium has taken root: “The overall relatively pleasurable and sane atmosphere proves our model is robust, if it’s not widely adopted.”
So why is he leaving? He says he was always clear about his intention to move on in a relatively short period of time. That’s partly because Citizendium is a labour of love and doesn’t pay the bills, but he adds: “If this is truly going to be a constitutional republic online, you can’t have an editor for life.” (If that last comment sounds like a dart directed at Wales, that’s because it was – Sanger describes him as the “constitutional monarch” of Wikipedia.)
Sanger’s next gig is called Watchknow.org, an educational video site that is currently in beta.
That leaves Citizendium in search of new leadership. Sanger hopes it will find a place under the wing of a bigger institution – perhaps a university, a not-for-profit or even an academic press.
But with Wikipedia continuing to grow like a weed (and able to attract substantial backing, such as today’s news of a $2m grant from eBay founder Pierre Omidyar) Sanger’s creation is increasingly in danger of being consigned to footnote status in the entry for “Online Encyclopedias”.
Note: Larry Sanger’s personal website and profile on Citizendium make no mention of his intention to leave, and still list him as the site’s editor-in-chief. But over on Wikipedia, “Sanger’s Resignation” gets headline treatment. It looks like he’s been scooped by old nemesis Jimmy Wales on that one.
