Larry Sanger

Larry Sanger
A bespectacled balding man in a blue shirt with the collar unbuttoned looks straight at the viewer.
Sanger in 2006
Born
Lawrence Mark Sanger

(1968-07-16) July 16, 1968 (age 56)
Bellevue, Washington, U.S.
Education
Occupation(s)Internet project developer
Philosopher
Known for
Children2
Websitelarrysanger.org
Signature

Lawrence Mark Sanger (/ˈsæŋər/ ⓘ;[1] born July 16, 1968) is an American Internet project developer and philosopher who co-founded Wikipedia along with Jimmy Wales. Sanger coined Wikipedia's name, and provided initial drafts for many of its early guidelines, including the "Neutral point of view" and "Ignore all rules" policies. Prior to Wikipedia, he was the editor-in-chief of Nupedia, another online encyclopedia. He later worked on other encyclopedic projects, including Encyclopedia of Earth, Citizendium, and Everipedia, and advised the nonprofit American political encyclopedia Ballotpedia.[2]

While in college, Sanger began using the Internet for educational purposes and joined the online encyclopedia Nupedia as editor-in-chief in 2000. Disappointed with the slow progress of Nupedia, Sanger proposed using a wiki to solicit and receive articles to put through Nupedia's peer-review process; this change led to the development and launch of Wikipedia in 2001. Sanger continued to serve as Nupedia's editor-in-chief and as an active contributor to Wikipedia in its first year, but he was laid off and left the projects in March 2002. Sanger's status as a co-founder of Wikipedia has been questioned by Wales[3] but is generally accepted.[4][5]

Since Sanger's departure from Wikipedia, he has been critical of the project, describing it in 2007 as being "broken beyond repair".[6] He has argued that, despite its merits, Wikipedia lacks credibility and accuracy due to a lack of respect for expertise and authority. Since 2020, he has criticized Wikipedia for what he perceives as a left-wing and liberal ideological bias in its articles.[7][8]

In 2006, he founded Citizendium to compete with Wikipedia. In 2010, he stepped down as editor-in-chief. In 2020, he left Citizendium entirely. In 2017, he joined Everipedia as chief information officer (CIO). He resigned in 2019, to establish a Knowledge Standards Foundation and the "encyclosphere". As of 2023, Sanger was serving as the executive director of the Knowledge Standards Foundation.[2][9][10] Sanger's other interests include a focus on philosophy–in particular epistemology, early modern philosophy, and ethics. He taught philosophy at his alma mater, Ohio State University.[11]

  1. ^ Western History for Kids, Part 1 – ancient and medieval – Sanger Academy on YouTube, video taken from Sanger's official educational YouTube channel, pronunciation confirmed around 0:10, accessed May 7, 2016
  2. ^ a b "About Dr. Larry Sanger". Knowledge Standards Foundation. September 24, 2019. Retrieved July 23, 2021.
  3. ^ "Transcript for Jimmy Wales: Wikipedia | Lex Fridman Podcast #385". lexfridman.com. June 19, 2023. Archived from the original on October 14, 2023. Retrieved November 3, 2023.
  4. ^ Yam, Shing-Ching Jonathan (2013). "Decommercialization and anti-elitism: early years of Wikipedia 2001-2002" (PDF). International Journal of Arts & Sciences. 6 (1) – via universitypublications.net. The Wales/Sanger split refers to the departure of co-founder Larry Sanger in 2002 (The Australian 2006).
  5. ^ Jankowski, Steve (August 6, 2023). "The Wikipedia imaginaire: a new media history beyond Wikipedia.org (2001–2022)". Internet Histories. 7 (4): 333–353. doi:10.1080/24701475.2023.2246261. S2CID 260878150. When Wikipedia launched, its co-founders Jimmy Wales and Larry Sanger followed this tradition when described it as 'the free encyclopedia'.
  6. ^ Cite error: The named reference Iain Thomson was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  7. ^ Sabur, Rozina (July 16, 2021). "The Left has taken over Wikipedia and stripped it of neutrality, says co-creator". The Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Archived from the original on January 12, 2022. Retrieved December 2, 2021. Mr Sanger added that "very little" reference to scandals and allegations against the Bidens, for instance relating to their business dealings in Ukraine, could be found on Wikipedia.
  8. ^ Cite error: The named reference Sayers 2021 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  9. ^ Spence, Madeleine (August 1, 2021). "Larry Sanger: 'I wouldn't trust Wikipedia – and I helped to invent it'". The Sunday Times. London. ISSN 0140-0460. Archived from the original on August 1, 2021. Retrieved August 1, 2021.
  10. ^ "Encyclosphere Team". Encyclosphere. n.d. Archived from the original on March 25, 2023.
  11. ^ Abby (March 6, 2022). "Larry Sanger: Complete Biography, History, and Inventions". History-Computer. Retrieved January 5, 2024.