When thinking of what to edit, a million things came across my mind. I would check to see the articles about them and what I was thinking about adding was already there in more depth then I even knew about. It is amazing that we have a source of information as vast as this one.
I think about what I would have done 50 even 10 years ago if I wanted to know about who the leader in Uganda was. I would go to my local library on my bike maybe even in my Firebird and go look through the Encyclopedia for the information that I wanted. Not only would it have to be something that I REALLY wanted to know because of the effort and time needed to procure such information but it is also not up to date with the day that I would be living in.
With Wikipedia, the ability to attain information not only in a quick and efficient manner but also to get the newest and most “up to date” information is also possible. I put up to date in quotations for one reason, that is the fact that if I happened to go the the Uganda page a few milliseconds after somebody put say Conan O’Brien up as the leader of the country because he said so, I have no way other then common sense to know that it is a lie. Granted there are moderators and post masters and admins etc. that control what does and doesn’t stay but if I were to read that and take the websites word that Conan was the president before someone changes it, I have now filled myself with false information.
This is the best and worst part about Wikipedia is that everybody that knows anything about anything is able to share that and have others read about it. I myself put up a post about how Ableton Live (a program that few know [other then Torren!]) has interfaces that are dedicated for use in it’s interface. I happen to know about this because I own one of them and have been fiddling around with it for a while. Though I joined the ranks as a Wikipedia editor, I felt somewhat insignificant in my post. Sure, I am adding to the ever expanding library of information on Wikipedia but in reality who is going to see it? I will never know. I hope that my post inspires someone that had no clue about it to go out grab one and become the world’s next biggest DJ. All with unknowing credit to me.
The lack of a filter that this “encyclopedia” uses is much much much different then the one that Encyclopedia Britannica uses. Once again, both a blessing and a downfall. I hope until then that my entry in the online encyclopedia we call Wikipedia gets built off of and edited so that I too can learn about things I thought I knew all about.
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/12/10/sunday/main2244008_page2.shtml?tag=contentMain;contentBody
Cool article CBS did about the Good and the Bad of Wikipedia (they also bring up the Stephen Colbert “contest”)