Growing Wikipedia Revises Its 'Anyone Can Edit' Policy

New York Times ^ | 6/17/06 | Katie Hafner

[LibWhacker]

Wikipedia is the online encyclopedia that "anyone can edit." Unless you want to edit the entries on Albert Einstein, human rights in China or Christina Aguilera.

Wikipedia's come-one, come-all invitation to write and edit articles, and the surprisingly successful results, have captured the public imagination. But it is not the experiment in freewheeling collective creativity it might seem to be, because maintaining so much openness inevitably involves some tradeoffs.

At its core, Wikipedia is not just a reference work but also an online community that has built itself a bureaucracy of sorts...

[the invisib1e hand]

when it hits critical mass, Orwell's ghost will come knocking.

[james500]

A lot of community based technologies work well in the beginning. The only ones using them are the ones that are interested in being a "community". Then the technology gets pimped out and becomes too popular, which leads other people to want to control it or destroy it.

Kinda like the internet.

[MikefromOhio]

I know a friend of mine, who had a similar name to a physicist on there, practically posted his resume on there for fun :)

[Gideon7]

For grins I searched Wikipedia for my name. Out popped a multi-page article about something that I did back in 1983. I had no idea. Kinda freaky.

[MikefromOhio]

LOL

[proud_yank]

Should I be shocked that the Slimes used "George W. Bush" & "Adolf Hitler" in the same sentence?

[goldstategop]

Let me guess: liberals want to keep alternative views out of Wikipedia. They don't control much else but they'll be damned if any one else inserts a contrary view into "their" encyclopedia.

(Denny Crane: "Every one should carry a gun strapped to their waist. We need more - not less guns.")

[Cyber Liberty]

I see they've yet to figure out what I was doing in 1983...so far, so good.

[Gideon7]

According to Wikipedia I invented the first US commercial MUD computer game (1983). I was 19 years old then.

Kinda embarrassing when I need to project a serious non-hacker non-gaming image (I work in computer systems security now).

[Tanniker Smith]

At its core, Wikipedia is not just a reference work but also an online community

Leave out the words "just" and "also". As follows:

At its core, Wikipedia is not a reference work but an online community

[Tanniker Smith]

At its core, Wikipedia is not just a reference work but also an online community

Leave out the words "just" and "also". As follows:

At its core, Wikipedia is not a reference work but an online community

[Tanniker Smith]

My name's in there, associated with a gaming book published in 1996. There's a link to my entry, except that there isn't one specifically for me.

Maybe if I'm bored one day . . .

[lqclamar]

This guy is a top level site sysop on wikipedia:

So is this "girl," who used to be a dude:

Wikipedia is owned by this guy, pictured here a few years ago when he was the owner of a large internet pornography website:

QUESTION TO ALL PARENTS:

Would you allow your kids to interact with any of these people in real life? If not, then why would you allow your kids to interact with them on Wikipedia, which they own, control, and operate? Keep your kids safe from freaks and web predators by blocking wikipedia now.