The default config is good for SEO, which is to re-order search results to put independent wikis above Fandom (driving clicks to the independent wiki), as well as disabling Fandom results + injecting a button to the indie wiki.
Indie Wiki Buddy re-orders search engine results to move independent wiki results above Fandom, driving clicks to the independent wiki. And for cases where the independent wiki doesn't show up, the Fandom result is disabled and a separate button is added that links directly to the independent wiki.
WikiPortraits organizer here. That funding figure is through the end of 2027. I'd estimate ~$550k total from the WMF over 4 years (accounting for additional rapid grants and funding from affiliates). So looking at an overall average of ~$135k per year out of a ~$200 million budget to (so far in 2.5 years) engage 150+ photographers who have uploaded 90k+ photos from hundreds of events. Good downstream impact as well (developing better tools for Commons, bringing on more longterm contributors to both Commons and Wikipedia, etc.).
Also want to highlight that WikiPortraits is not just covering the fancy events like FIFA and Cannes, but many more smaller and undercovered events as well (indigenous festivals, science conferences, literature festivals, and so on). World Cup coverage in particular was relatively very cheap for how high-visibility the photos are on Wikipedia (majority of matches were covered locally); we've put more towards getting wiki photographers in Benin, Ghana, and Kenya support to cover their local culture and events.
For the amount of direct impact we have on Wikipedia and Commons, I'll go to bat to say that it's a good use of money compared to a good number of other projects that have received more funding over the years (ofc I have a conflict of interest here, but still). But I do get the larger point, that this sort of project is not necessarily what people expect when they donate to Wikimedia (and Cannes and FIFA of course stand out in the list of events being covered and are what people will focus on). And I've also been critical of the WMF's approach to donation comms for this reason.
Speaking as a WikiPortraits organizer: Wikipedia primarily uses free media, and the for-profit event coverage is of course usually not releasing their photos under free licenses. Our photos are released under Creative Commons for use by Wikipedia and, well, anyone, and big events like the World Cup are where we can capture a lot of the most notable people at scale.
That being said, we're not just covering the big fancy events. We've done hundreds of events from indigenous festivals to minor league sports to science conferences. We've also donated equipment to wiki communities in Kenya, Ghana, and Benin to photograph their local events and culture, which are very undercovered on-wiki. The big events are what gets a lot of visibility and make the headlines but we do a lot more than that.
As a Mastodon user who hates Meta, I am still excited about Threads adding ActivityPub support. The one thing missing from the Mastodon experience is a lot of my real-life friends who are now on Threads. It'll be nice to be able to connect with them via federation.
Embrace, extend, and extinguish is always a concern, but I think the fediverse is now large and diverse enough to withstand it. Threads will hopefully make the concept of the fediverse more mainstream and raise all ships.
wiki.gg is currently an excellent host, but it's still ultimately a farm owned by Freedom Games. The day will come where it'll need to give a return on investment (i.e. more ads). And it's also possible that one day, Fandom (or another large, corporate entity) will acquire it just as they did Gamepedia. Self-hosting, or using one of the smaller hosts described as "semi-independent", is the way to go to maintain self-control and not be tied to larger for-profit companies.
Also check out Indie Wiki Buddy, a browser extension I maintain for Chrome+Firefox. It can automatically redirect you from Fandom to BreezeWiki mirrors, and will also redirect you to an independent wiki when one is available.
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