EditThisNFT

This NFT lets you experience a moment in time that I had over 20 years ago - the moment when I had just set up the Wikipedia software (the open source Usemod wiki) and had written "Hello, World!" and saved it. The logo was an American flag, not for any really good reason - it was just a file that I happened to have on my computer that morning!

The artistic concept of this piece is to experience what I experienced that morning - the new wiki was incredibly vulnerable, even to the point that passwords were optional for accounts! Will it be taken over by trolls in 3 days? What kind of rules will you need to establish to make it become an encyclopedia? What kind of community will you be able to gather?

Today, of course, Wikipedia is a wonder of the entire world - a part of the infrastructure of the human race. But it didn't have to be that way. This is the small tiny start, and I think it interesting to reflect on how it all started.