“WikiLeaks” vs “Wikipedia”: Do You Know The Difference?

WikiLeaks is no stranger to news media. Founded in 2006, the site began to receive coverage—and plenty of criticism—when it leaked a 2003 Army manual detailing interrogation techniques at the prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

Other famous leaks include the 2016 release of stolen Democratic National Committee emails that some claim irrevocably altered the course of the election. … So, yeah, they’ve generated some attention, and while you may have heard the name WikiLeaks, do you know what it is? And how it’s related (or not) to wikis and some of the other famous wikis, such as Wikipedia?

We’re about to leak you that critical info. (It’s not exactly a national security secret.)

But to understand all these names, you’ll first need to understand a wiki itself.

What’s a wiki? 

Wiki was introduced to the lexicon by computer programmer Ward Cunningham in 1995 when he created collaborative software that he called WikiWikiWeb. Wiki is Hawaiian for “to hurry; fast, quick.”

As a noun, wiki means “a website that allows anyone to add, delete, or revise content by using a web browser.” The term wiki is also used as a verb; if you wiki, you are either researching a topic on a wiki or contributing to one.

As reflected in the terms WikiLeaks and Wikipedia, wiki is sometimes used in creating blended words or portmanteaus: a wikiholic devotes a vast amount of time to wiki-based projects. Similarly, a Wikipedian is a person who enthusiastically contributes to Wikipedia.

The word has been translated into a number of languages. In Estonian it is viki; in Welsh it is wici.

Plenty of websites use the concept of and name wiki; if you’ve ever searched for information on your favorite TV show, you’ve likely come across one of the many fan-updated websites or wikis about the shows. (We’ve whiled away some hours at The Jeffersons wiki, haven’t you?)

So, what is WikiLeaks?

WikiLeaks is a site that obtains and publishes secret and classified material in a way that protects its sources (often whistle-blowers), journalists, and activists. The site operates as a nonprofit, and in its early days, it functioned as a collaborative and communal wiki with more than 1,000 volunteers.

Today, the site instructs journalists to describe it as the “open government group,” “anti-corruption group,” “transparency group,” or “whistleblower’s site.” WikiLeaks considers itself a library, as its site claims to have released more than 10 million documents. A library can be a physical place, but it can also be “a collection of manuscripts, publications, and other materials for reading, viewing, listening, study, or reference.”

If you’re looking for access to previously classified information, you’d search WikiLeaks. For example, the unredacted diplomatic cables appeared on WikiLeaks, revealing a serious lapse in security at the embassy.

What is Wikipedia?

Despite the similar name and look of its website, WikiLeaks is not affiliated in any way with Wikipedia. (So don’t send your kids to WikiLeaks for that essay on metamorphosis.)

Founded in 2001, Wikipedia is a massive, online encyclopedia operating in more than 300 languages. The free site is run by volunteers (the English site claims about 130,000 active editors and scores more who are merely registered), who review and update all its entries. An encyclopedia is “a book, set of books, optical disc, mobile device, or online informational resource containing articles on various topics, usually in alphabetical arrangement, covering all branches of knowledge or, less commonly, all aspects of one subject.”

Wikipedia has more than 54 million articles about every topic under the sun: music, insects, parks, rodeos—just give their “random article” link a try! You’d use Wikipedia to research any topic. For example, the information in the Wikipedia article helped explain to my son the difference between a frog and a toad.