Double Journal Entry #8:

What is Wikipedia? -"Wikipedia is a multilingual, Web-based encyclopedia project, operated by the Wikimedia Foundation, a nonprofit organization."                                                                          How would you answer the question posed in this piece “How reliable can a source be when anyone can edit it?”? -Although we would like to think most people editing the information know what they are talking about and want to provide accurate information for researchers, the truth is some don’t. Many will edit information that they know nothing about. Therefore, the source cannot be very reliable, even though there is accurate and valid information provided on the website on certain topics. Who do the creators of Wikipedia place their trust in when it comes to weeding out misinformation? -The wisdom of crowds  Why did founder Larry Sanger leave Wikipedia? -Because he felt the website should give more authority to experts.  What would abuse or vandalism look like on a Wikipedia page? -Someone would go into a Wikipedia page on Michael Jordan and edit all his basketball stats so that it looks like Michael Jordan was a horrible basketball player. What do the statistics quoted in the third paragraph of this piece reveal? -The statistics reveal that even though Wikipedia has been socially labeled as an unreliable source numerous amounts of people are visiting the site and obviously using its information. It’s even prominently listed on Google search results pages.  Why do you think Wikipedia is so successful? -I feel that Wikipedia is successful because it provides the information people are looking for without a bunch of fluff in the material or having to visit multiple websites.  Why might Wikipedia’s creators not want to accept advertising? -Because they cannot verify that all the information on the website is valid. How does Wikiscanner help increase the reliability of Wikipedia entries? -       It allows anonymous editors of Wikipedia to be checked and exposes examples of self-interest editing of world businesses and governments. Source: Wikipedia