User:VX/Essay

This is an essay.

It contains the advice or opinions of one or more Wikipedia contributors. This page is not an encyclopedia article, nor is it one of Wikipedia's policies or guidelines, as it has not been thoroughly vetted by the community. Some essays represent widespread norms; others only represent minority viewpoints.

After recent events, I've decided to write an essay about it.

We're losing contributors, and fast.

The situation is almost dire now. Requests for adminship are near all-time lows, and admins are leaving by the minute. At this pace, within a few years Wikipedia could be a failure. It might seem like a bit much, but think about it. During September 2008, only 6 people obtained adminship. Compare that to the 30+ people that were promoted in January. Guess what though; it's December, heading in to the new year and we still haven't rebounded from that yet. Retirements are probably in line, or slightly higher than normal, but there isn't anyone to replace these leavings, both admins and experienced editors.

So right now Wikipedia is at a crossroad. The direction that the project takes from here out is essential to it's long term survival.

The New Year could bring two things; just what we need, or worse. I hope that we'll get past this eventually, but at this point no one knows what will happen for now

To be continued...