spacer
Technology, Discovery & Innovation NewsFactor Sites:     spacer   NewsFactor.com   spacer   Enterprise Security Today   spacer   CRM Daily   spacer   Business Report   spacer   Sci-Tech Today   spacer
spacer
   
spacer
spacer Home spacer Computing spacer Digital Life spacer Discovery spacer Space spacer More Topics...
spacer spacer spacer spacer spacer spacer
spacer spacer spacer spacer spacer spacer
spacer spacer spacer spacer spacer spacer
spacer spacer spacer spacer spacer spacer
spacer
Build Apps 5x Faster
For Half the Cost
Enterprise Cloud Computing

On Force.com
spacer
spacer
spacer
spacer
spacer
spacer Digital Life
spacer
spacer
spacer spacer spacer
Average Rating: spacer
Rate this article:  
spacer
spacer
Wikipedia Will Require Review of Public Changes

By Jennifer LeClaire
August 25, 2009 1:42PM
spacer
spacer
Wikipedia will require trusted editors to review public changes to its articles before they go live. Changes to its English-language sites will not be visible until the editors give approval. The goal is to avoid inaccuracies and posters who claim to be someone they are not. Wikipedia is a popular site with more than three million articles.
 

Related Topics

spacer Wikipedia
spacer Inaccurate
spacer Editorial

Latest News

spacer Sperm Counts Lower with More TV
spacer U.S. Doubts Iranian Space Monkey
spacer Baumgartner Faster Than Thought
spacer Study Says Neanderthals Died Earlier
spacer How Did Mary Ingalls Become Blind?



spacer Wikipedia is changing its editorial policies -- again. The free online encyclopedia plans to tighten the screws on articles about living people on its English-language sites.

Wikipedia is one of the most popular sites on the Web, with more than three million articles. The Wikimedia Foundation, a nonprofit group in San Francisco that oversees the user-generated encyclopedia, has approved a feature called flagged revisions, according to The New York Times.

Flagged revisions will reportedly mandate an experienced Wikipedia volunteer editor to review public changes made to articles about living people before they go live. A version with the changes will be invisible until an editor gives approval.

"We are no longer at the point that it is acceptable to throw things at the wall and see what sticks," Michael Snow, a Seattle lawyer and chairman of the Wikimedia board, told the Times. "There was a time probably when the community was more forgiving of things that were inaccurate or fudged in some fashion -- whether simply misunderstood or an author had some ax to grind. There is less tolerance for that sort of problem now."

Avoiding Controversy

The policy isn't entirely new. Wikipedia imposed flagging on its German-language version last year. And this isn't the first time Wikimedia has changed the editorial policy, either. Wikipedia has in the past responded to several controversial issues with policy changes.

Indeed, Wikipedia biographies have drawn controversy over the years. John Seigenthaler, a former assistant to U.S. Attorney General Robert Kennedy, and Google Watch protest-site creator Daniel Brandt are among high-profile persons who have lashed out at Wikipedia for inaccurate bios. In 2005, some even suggested libel suits.

Wikipedia took steps to prevent posters from claiming to be someone they are not in 2007. People who boast prestigious credentials were obliged to reveal their identities in posts. That change came in the wake of the discovery that a poster going by the screen name Essjay and claiming to be a professor of theology was really a 24-year-old college dropout named Ryan Jordan.

The cloak of anonymity was removed from Wikipedia users in years past as the site moved to gain more credibility with users. With its latest policy changes, the site seems to be taking a proactive rather than a reactive approach. According to the Times, Wikipedia's latest editorial changes will segment contributors into two compartments: Experienced, trusted editors and the general public.

A Maturing Wikipedia

"By creating a two-tiered editorial control infrastructure, Wikipedia is not going to hurt the site. It's only going to make it better," said Brad Shimmin, an analyst at Current Analysis. "Wikipedia is not the free-for-all it was three or four years ago. What we are looking at now is a maturing of Wikipedia in terms of the breadth of content that's up there leveling out a little bit and the control that's imposed on that content."

Shimmin said industry watchers have always been surprised that Wikipedia is as deep and accurate as it is. He credits a number of interested individuals for that success. But there have been admitted issues with people posting inaccurate and even spiteful information.

"Even for a short period of time, you can't think it's OK to have bad content on a source that's trusted," Shimmin said. "You can't make that assumption anymore. The service is too valuable to too many people to post an article saying someone is dead when they are not dead and wait a couple of days until somebody figures it out."
 

Tell Us What You Think
Comment:

Name:

Also Visit:
  • iPad Info Center

  • Billions of Bytes
  • Mobile Device Now
  • Apple Info Center
  • TopTechWire.com


The Panasonic Toughpad JT-B1 is a pocket-sized, 7-inch, Android 4.0-powered Toughpad that gives mobile workers all the integrated features and options they require in a tablet that goes anywhere business takes them. It's the ultra-mobile, ultra-convenient tablet computer that literally puts the world in the palm of your hand. Click here to learn more.


 Digital Life
1.   For 61%, Facebook a Sometime Thing
2.   Amazon To Use Virtual Coins on Kindle
3.   FTC Issues Mobile Privacy Guidelines
4.   FCC Proposes Free, Public Wi-Fi
5.   New PlayStation on the Horizon?


spacer
spacer spacer
spacer spacer spacer
gipoco.com is neither affiliated with the authors of this page nor responsible for its contents. This is a safe-cache copy of the original web site.