Wikipedia Absence Is Noted, but as a Brief Inconvenience

The day of protest at English Wikipedia brought measurable results, the site’s administrators reported: four million people used the tool Wikipedia had provided to find their member of Congress by entering their ZIP code; 90 million came to the site and learned about the antipiracy legislation that Wikipedia and other Web sites are protesting.

But a visit to the fourth floor of the Mid-Manhattan Library, where dozens of people were at computers or using the free Wi-Fi, was to witness the hurdle Wikipedia faces in trying to urge offline action.

Most people using the Internet there said they had not given much thought to Wikipedia or Internet regulation. Instead, they were writing e-mail, watching YouTube clips, poring over sports statistics.

Among the few who knew about the blackout was Tony Nilsson, 35, a student and dancer from Sweden who lives in Manhattan. “I chose to do reading today,” he said, putting off essay writing until tomorrow when he could use Wikipedia.

Similarly, a Brooklyn copy writer, Yasheve Miller, said he was able to put off using Wikipedia for a day. He said, “I’m not going to die in 24 hours; if it had been PayPal or Google. ...” And as a content creator who believes in a “free Internet,” he said he was not sure what he thought about the legislation, known as SOPA, for Stop Online Piracy Act.

Jimmy Wales, the public face of Wikipedia, addressed schoolchildren and students when he announced the blackout on Twitter: “Student warning! Do your homework early. Wikipedia protesting bad law on Wednesday!”

Wikipedia’s decision spurred discussion at the Pathways to Technology Magnet High School in Hartford, where all 330 students carry HP Netbooks. The 15 juniors and seniors in a sound production class learned about the blackout firsthand when they visited Google and saw the blacked out emblem, said Kelli Cauffman, the media teacher.

She said the students then tried to get onto Wikipedia and some other sites, which led in turn to a lively class discussion about Internet censorship.

“The kids are pretty savvy about getting their information from a variety of Internet sites,” said Ms. Cauffman. “But it did cause them to pause and think about why this is happening.”

Michel Thivierge, 17, a senior, said he did not like the blackout because it prevented him from looking up information for a class project on adding sound effects to movie trailers. “I was very frustrated and it was a big inconvenience to me because I use these sites every day,” he said.

Jay Walsh, a spokesman for the Wikimedia Foundation, which runs Wikipedia sites, said that the office had received an unusual number of calls — hundreds instead of a couple dozen — and more than 500 e-mails. “Some people were confused, but most people want to know when it will come back,” he said.

But so far the blackout has been a success in turning the focus on SOPA and Internet regulation, he said. “We had to make sure our donors understand the nature of this protest,” Mr. Walsh said. “We don’t want this to become an advocacy organization — need to choose our battles carefully.”

Andrew Lih, an associate professor at the Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism at the University of Southern California and an expert on Wikipedia, said the blackout did not create much of a reaction because Google had made a protest only by blacking out its logo and the proposed law “had a direct link to what appears on Wikipedia.”