The Phoenix Network:
 
 
 
About  |  Advertise
 
Comic Strips  |  Lifestyle Features

Wikipedia rules

By MIKE MILIARD  |  December 12, 2007

(The hierarchy at Wikipedia, whose head office, the Wikimedia Foundation Inc., will be moving from St. Petersburg, Florida, to San Francisco this winter, is complicated. Learn about its “mix of anarchicdespoticdemocraticrepublicanmeritocraticplutocratic, and technocratic elements” at meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Power_structure.)

Indeed, some disillusioned former Wikipedians gripe about such bureaucratic heavy-handedness and/or the rabidity of some of the site’s devotees, grumbling about “Swastikipedia.” Meanwhile, Web sites such as wikipediareview.com and wikipedia-watch.org charge themselves with debunking what they see as the self-satisfied smugness of so-called Wikipediots. (“They have a massive, unearned influence on what passes for reliable information,” the latter proclaims.)

Hell, Wikipedia’s own co-founder, Larry Sanger, left the site in 2002 — not just because he was uneasy with the potential for abuse and inaccuracy, but because he believed Wikipedia’s populism went too far, to the point of disdain for experts and scholars. He’s since created another reference site, Citizendium, which, striving for “credibility and quality, not just quantity,” enforces stricter rules, and requires editors to post under their own names. (Having launched in March of this year, it currently has 4200 entries.)

Of course, it’s never heartening to learn of the CIA and the Vatican perpetrating propagandistic edits all over the site, or to hear American Library Association President Michael Gorman castigating Wikipedia for creating “a generation of intellectual sluggards incapable of moving beyond the Internet.” But, by and large, Wikipedia is doing good work.

When Klein first discovered the site, in 2001, “It was really unattractive. There was no design, just text. I remember I wasn’t particularly impressed.” Now, having spent thousands of hours helping build and refine it — and not just the English site; he also posts in German and in the Uto-Aztecan language of Nahuatl — Klein is convinced that it’s one of the great projects of world history: “a completely free, public collection of modern knowledge about society.” That’s one reason language-specific Wikipedia content will be bundled into each One Laptop per Child computer shipped to the developing world.

It shouldn’t be too staggering to see how big this has become. “We’re now a people who dedicate most of our time to our online personas,” says Diana Boston (username: OneWomanArmy923), 38, a non-governmental-organization worker who’s originally from Whitman, and who’s written on feminismÉmile Zolaabortionresponsible drug use, and ducks. “I’m not surprised that an online encyclopedia of knowledge, where anyone can give their two cents, is a big hit.”

Glazkov sees another factor fueling its ineluctable growth: a desire for a sort of immortality. “Wikipedia is a good way to leave a trace of your life. It’s a great thing, to share your knowledge with other people.”

“History has shown that, when there’s a need for something that benefits society, there’s no way that anyone can stop its progression,” says Blackburn. “One of the most powerful things in our world is knowledge — whether it’s a train timetable or the specific flora and fauna in your neighborhood. Everyone has a need for information. And most people have a desire to explore. That’s what Wikipedia’s there for.”

< prev  1  |  2  |  3  |  4  |  5  | 
Related:
  Topics: Lifestyle Features , SJ Klein , Crime , Vandalism ,  More more >
  • Share:
  • RSS feed Rss
  • Email this article to a friend Email
  • Print this article Print
Comments
Wikipedia rules
GlassCobra ROCKS! An excellent person. What a cool article!
By Archangel on 12/12/2007 at 8:10:25
Wikipedia rules
Yes! Thank you! Finally, a well-informed article on Wikipedia! This is a rare gem - most articles on Wikipedia seem to be either snide critics using sensational language or uninvolved advocates spewing trivial apologies of Wikipedia alongside meaningless statistics, and I'm glad to see that *someone* can write about the topic well for the public.
By Nihiltres on 12/13/2007 at 1:42:25
Wikipedia rules
This was a PR "puff piece" as Jimmy Wales is fond of saying. I would say the article spent about 6% of its words on criticism and 94% on flattery. Read the article about "History of western Eurasia" (the whole thing), and tell me that this is a good resource for anyone beyond a 6th-grade education. Read the article about "electric knife" and tell me if it seems "balanced" to devote about 20% of the article to how electric knives are used to trim foam for transvestites to pad their asses. No kidding, I tried to modify that article for the better, but instead of being thanked, I was blocked. Read about what happened to Taner Akcam at the airport, then tell me that all of the "good" that Wikipedia has done actually outweighs the deprivation of a man's civil liberties. Yes, I agree, this article is a rare gem. It is indeed RARE these days to still find a journalist who so blindly follows a cult. Did I mention the former COO of the Wikimedia Foundation is a convicted felon? Did I mention that the former Treasurer was found to be in contempt of court surrounding a hearing about how he was hiding $800,000 from a rightful plaintiff? Did I mention that the Foundation is budgeting more than $500,000 for the new Executive Director's salary and staff for 2008, not to mention $180,000 for the lawyer who denies having known anything about the COO's felony background. Wikipedia has become a hyperbolic parody of what all its critics have claimed it was. We can't even make fun of it any more, because it's so laughable at face value.
By Gregory Kohs on 12/13/2007 at 11:14:33
Wikipedia rules
Gregory Kohs: //en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Electric_knife&action=history doesn't back up your claims - none of these users was banned for removing something. Anybody who wants to learn about the real reason why Gregory Kohs was banned from Wikipedia by Jimmy Wales can read about it <a href="//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Wikipedia_Signpost/2006-10-09/MyWikiBiz">here</a>. In short, Kohs is a marketer whose company "MyWikiBiz" offered to create Wikipedia articles for companies, at prices ranging from $49 to $99. - Abuse of Wikipedia for commercial and personal promotion (COI, "conflict of interest" edits) is a big problem for Wikipedia, which could have received a bit more attention in the article. But the site is not entirely without defence, as the blocking of Kohs proved.
By HaeB on 12/15/2007 at 5:35:23
Wikipedia rules
The Bathrobe Cabal strikes again!
By LaraLove on 12/17/2007 at 11:47:12
Wikipedia rules
This is a great article. I just want to provide one correction. There is no arbitrary sales figure that a book must reach to achieve "notability" status on Wikipedia; no 5,000 benchmark. We use the word notable in a sense peculiar to Wikipedia and in keeping with what Wikipedia is--an encyclopedia and therefore a tertiary source. The general notability standard we use is not some arbitrary and subjective test, nor a judgment call such as whether we've heard of it as a vernacular interpratation of that word might lead some to believe. What we have devised is a standard that asks whether the World has taken note of the subject by publishing information about it in reliable sources. It is usually formulated as "being the subject of significant treatment in reliable sources". We have subject specific standards of notability which sometimes define other bases, give guidance on applicability of the general standard, and even provide resources for locating the necessary reliable sources. We have a book notability standard set forth at a page titled "Wikipedia:Notability (books)", of which which I was a primary contributor and the creator. See //en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Notability_%28books%29
By Fuhghettaboutit on 01/08/2008 at 9:16:43
Wikipedia rules
In response to HaeB -- I was blocked from Electric knife editing: //en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Special:Log&type=block&page=User:ZD_Netman Also, the COI policy arose AFTER the foundation of MyWikiBiz, so it's kind of funny to blame my company for violating a Wikipedia "rule" that didn't exist at the time! Another Wikipediot!
By Gregory Kohs on 02/21/2008 at 6:42:52

Today's Event Picks
ARTICLES BY MIKE MILIARD
Share this entry with Delicious

 See all articles by: MIKE MILIARD

MOST POPULAR
RSS Feed of for the most popular articles
 Most Viewed   Most Emailed 



Monday, December 01, 2008  |  Sign In  |  Register
 
thePhoenix.com:
Phoenix Media/Communications Group:
TODAY'S FEATURED ADVERTISERS
Copyright © 2008 The Phoenix Media/Communications Group