"torrent of pointless, trivial content that readers have to sift through to find the real stuff"
I don't think people page through online encyclopedias that way. I'm not notable, if I had a wikipedia page I don't think it would link from any page that actually exists today. How could that ever bother you? I don't think you'd come across it unless you googled my name and it took you to my wikipedia page in which case it would seem to be doing good.
I used to hit the [random] link and know I'd get something interesting.
Now, not so much. I'll get a tiny stub of something programmaticly dragged in from some huge database - a town name with maybe some population figure and location; an obscure politician with party affiliation and birthdate.
For people who enjoy gnoming these kind of articles are tedious - what's the point of correcting a comma if no-one is likely to see it?
Supporting the random button isn't what I'd call anywhere near the top 10 most important functions an encyclopedia of any kind ought to provide. Serendipity is useful in a library or a bookstore, but when you open a book, the bibliomancy becomes avant garde art at best.
I don't think people page through online encyclopedias that way. I'm not notable, if I had a wikipedia page I don't think it would link from any page that actually exists today. How could that ever bother you? I don't think you'd come across it unless you googled my name and it took you to my wikipedia page in which case it would seem to be doing good.