Wikipedia is a unique online encyclopedia that is offered to everyone with internet access. This goes both ways, since any anonymous user is able to create a username in Wikipedia and edit any wiki page because it is freely accessible to the public. Thus, you might want to consider the impact that you could make by editing a wiki post on a famous subject. For example, being a student with hardly any credibility to assert concrete theories or statements, I can edit the Wikipedia page on Organic Chemistry. Clearly, I am no professor or doctorate in this field, but my interference could be detrimental to the general public. Someone could be looking at the page after I make the edit and have false belief in what is stated on Wikipedia. This is also another flaw that is often seen in the use of Wikipedia. Similarly perceived as an "encyclopedia" the general public blindly follows what is said without even considering the sources that the Wiki page is based upon. Even though one may be able to freely impact Wiki pages, there are still Wikipedia moderators who essentially moderate if an edit is legitimate or not.
If I was to edit any page on Wikipedia, I would want to lend my knowledge to a topic that I know to be true, or at least am an a prominent figure in its field of knowledge. Considering that, I would probably just try to edit a page about myself, because to be honest, who knows more about you.... than you? Saying this, I am against the editing of posts on Wikipedia that are not known to be true because there are so many who are dependent on the information provided by Wikipedia. And considering that much on Wikipedia is regarded to be legit in its majority, it becomes an online encyclopedia that ultimately can become an information powerhouse.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
I don’t think your first paragraph explains your initial reactions after we were told to edit a Wikipedia page. However, I liked your specific example illustrating the negative impact of a student editing a page on organic Chemisty. In your second paragraph, I think you should include an example of a Wikipedia page that is not known to be true. I too would write a Wikiepdia page on a topic that I knew a lot of information about, and that’s why I would choose to write on my high school band program.
ReplyDelete