The Top 100 Most Viewed Articles on Wikipedia During 2013

Links to lists containing the Top 100 Most Viewed Articles during 2013 for 35 language versions of Wikipedia are available on this page from Wikimedia Tool Labs.

Top 10 Most Viewed Articles 2013: English Language Version of Wikipedia

1. Facebook
30,437,829 page views
2. Deaths in 2013
21,032,962 page views
3. Breaking Bad
17,184,556 page views
4. G-force
17,174,955 page views
5. Google
16,930,496 page views
6. World War II
16,632,652 page views
7. Wiki
16,351,409 page views
8. YouTube
15,863,520 page views
9. List of Bollywood films of 2013
15,734,806 page views
10. United States
15,324,117 page views

Bit O’ Analysis

As we’ve seen in previous years (including 2012) Facebook was once again the most viewed article on Wikipedia (English) during 2013.
In an article that we wrote one year ago for Search Engine Land we included the following comments about why Facebook might be the most popular entry.

On AllThingsD, Liz Gannes gets input from Jay Walsh, a Wikimedia spokesperson:
First, that users are typing Facebook into an integrated search engine in their browsers intending to go to the site and end up on Wikipedia (which could be a self-reinforcing habit based on search history).And second, as Walsh put it, “It’s quite possible that these numbers confirm general, high-level interest and curiosity about top Web properties — their history, policies, background, etc.”

We agreed with these comments a year ago and see no reason to change our thinking as this year comes to a close.
Our post from December 2012 also looks at how Facebook, Google, and YouTube regularly appear on the most viewed articles list and how all of this points to why information and digital literacy are so important.

Comparisons (2012 v. 2013)

Three terms appear on both the 2012 and 2013 lists.
Number one on both the 2012 and 2013 lists is Facebook.
32,647,942 page views in 2012 vs. 30,437,829 page views during 2013.
The entry for Wiki moves down from number two (29,613,759 page views) in 2012 to number seven (16,351,409 page views) during 2013.
Finally, Google moves up the list but with fewer overall page views from number nine (18,508,719 page views) in 2012 to number 5 (16,930,496 page views) during 2013.

Notes from The Top 100

Some other tidbits from the Top 100 list.

• The Wikipedia entry for Lycos (how’s that for a blast from the past?) was the 13th most viewed article during 2013.
• Yahoo appears at number 14.
• Entry for Wikipedia #19
• Entry for Letter “G”  #71
• Harlem Shake (meme) appears at #100

Direct to Top 100 Lists for 35 Language Versions of Wikipedia (via Wikimedia Tool Labs)
See Also: Wikitrends (Most Visited Pages Today, This Week, This Month)

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