4 ms·

I've heard bad things about writing articles on Wikis. Lots of ego-wars. Not really sure it's worth my time? If it's a good place to be, I'm happy to help. EDI

I've heard bad things about writing articles on Wikis. Lots of ego-wars. Not really sure it's worth my time? If it's a good place to be, I'm happy to help. EDIT: But I do trust it. So maybe it doesn't matter?

Kaiyou 7y ago
I trusted Wikipedia until I've read articles for which I knew aobut the topic beforehand, too. Now.. not anymore. Pretty sure the crazies with lots of times on their hand have won the editing wars.
- dharmon 7y ago
  There's a music channel on YouTube that does "Fact or Fiction" with musicians, where they fact-check the person's Wikipedia page with them. Sometimes they don't even get through the first sentence before the person has to stop them with corrections.
  - ASlave2Gravity 7y ago
    And thank you for the link. edit: sorry, was being a bit rude.
  - DHPersonal 7y ago
    Loudwire — Wikipeda: Fact or Fiction? https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLvXmarOi5xICV0X4HfMH7S29EpvDpTQgd https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLvXmarOi5xICV0X4HfMH7S29E...
    - dharmon 7y ago
      That's it. Sorry, didn't know the name of the channel.
  - pwinnski 7y ago
    Which assumes that the musicians aren't lying, but yes, an occasional lying musician is probably still more accurate overall than Wikipedia's sourcing.
- raxxorrax 7y ago
  There is a lot of ego, especially on political debates, other articles have a much better quality. I don't know a feasible solution, but I often think the prominent voices are more of a problem than the average contributor. Maybe not tracking the amount of contributios would help. More anonymous access to help against echo chambers and networks?
  - ASlave2Gravity 7y ago
    That's very interesting RE prominent voices. I guess getting into an ego-war with whoever likes to crit your ideas probably happens from time to time. But I do remember reading about a physicist who wasn't allowed to edit the Wiki on their theory! (sorry can't remember who / when)
    - anon73044 7y ago
      iirc it was someone from Periodic Videos or Numberphile
    - elect_engineer 7y ago
      Full disclosure: I am the author of the Wikipedia essay "Wikipedia has cancer". :Would you really prefer it if Wikipedia allowed David Miscavige ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Miscavige https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Miscavige ) to edit the Wikipedia page on Scientology ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scientology https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scientology )? :Wikipedia's policies on writing about yourself are spot on. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Conflict_of_interest https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Conflict_of_interest and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Best_practices_for_editors_with_close_associations https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Best_practices_for_e...
- Matticus_Rex 7y ago
  Compared to what? I have the same issue with books in my focus areas that are widely revered, and even some peer-reviewed articles in good journals. I often disagree with things said on Wikipedia, but that's because I often disagree with the novice-accessible versions of things I know a lot about.
elect_engineer 7y ago
Full disclosure: I am the author of the Wikipedia essay "Wikipedia has cancer". See https://news.ycombinator.com/reply?id=21700802 https://news.ycombinator.com/reply?id=21700802 and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Guy_Macon/Wikipedia_has_Cancer https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Guy_Macon/Wikipedia_has_C... Re "I've heard bad things about writing articles on Wikis. Lots of ego-wars." you hear those things from new Wikipedia users who decide that the first thing they should do is either [A] "Fix" the Donald Trump article, [B] try to use Wikipedia to advertise their garage band, or [C] try to correct the biases I list at https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Wikipedia:YWAB https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Wikipedia:YWAB If you pick an article, check the history, and find that it ISN'T getting 300 edits every day, you will have a much easier time improving that article. My Wikipedia page has a link so you can email me. I will be glad to help if you want to become a Wikipedia editor. EDIT: Fixed a bad link.
- ASlave2Gravity 7y ago
  thank you very much. Will get in touch when the time is right. Also, that link doesn't work. think you need a dot! (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Guy_Macon/Yes._We_are_biased. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Guy_Macon/Yes._We_are_bia...)
  - elect_engineer 7y ago
    It turns out that the ycombinator.com software won't accept a link that ends with a dot. This works: https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Wikipedia:YWAB https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Wikipedia:YWAB
- edraferi 7y ago
  Your bias link doesn’t appear to be correct.
  - elect_engineer 7y ago
    Thanks! looks like it was a screwup by the ycombinator.com software. The original link ends with a period, and the software stripped it out -- probably because adding a period after a link that is at the end of a sentence is a common error. I replaced it with another page on Wikipedia that redirects to the "User:Guy Macon/Yes. We are biased." page. Full disclosure: I am the author of the Wikipedia essay "Wikipedia has cancer". See https://news.ycombinator.com/reply?id=21700802 https://news.ycombinator.com/reply?id=21700802 and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Guy_Macon/Wikipedia_has_Cancer https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Guy_Macon/Wikipedia_has_C...
deleted 7y ago
[deleted]
microcolonel 7y ago
Wikipedia is largely fine, as long as you stay away from things activists are currently interested in.

Kaiyou 7y ago

I trusted Wikipedia until I've read articles for which I knew aobut the topic beforehand, too. Now.. not anymore. Pretty sure the crazies with lots of times on their hand have won the editing wars.

dharmon 7y ago
There's a music channel on YouTube that does "Fact or Fiction" with musicians, where they fact-check the person's Wikipedia page with them. Sometimes they don't even get through the first sentence before the person has to stop them with corrections.
- ASlave2Gravity 7y ago
  And thank you for the link. edit: sorry, was being a bit rude.
- DHPersonal 7y ago
  Loudwire — Wikipeda: Fact or Fiction? https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLvXmarOi5xICV0X4HfMH7S29EpvDpTQgd https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLvXmarOi5xICV0X4HfMH7S29E...
  - dharmon 7y ago
    That's it. Sorry, didn't know the name of the channel.
- pwinnski 7y ago
  Which assumes that the musicians aren't lying, but yes, an occasional lying musician is probably still more accurate overall than Wikipedia's sourcing.
raxxorrax 7y ago
There is a lot of ego, especially on political debates, other articles have a much better quality. I don't know a feasible solution, but I often think the prominent voices are more of a problem than the average contributor. Maybe not tracking the amount of contributios would help. More anonymous access to help against echo chambers and networks?
- ASlave2Gravity 7y ago
  That's very interesting RE prominent voices. I guess getting into an ego-war with whoever likes to crit your ideas probably happens from time to time. But I do remember reading about a physicist who wasn't allowed to edit the Wiki on their theory! (sorry can't remember who / when)
  - anon73044 7y ago
    iirc it was someone from Periodic Videos or Numberphile
  - elect_engineer 7y ago
    Full disclosure: I am the author of the Wikipedia essay "Wikipedia has cancer". :Would you really prefer it if Wikipedia allowed David Miscavige ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Miscavige https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Miscavige ) to edit the Wikipedia page on Scientology ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scientology https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scientology )? :Wikipedia's policies on writing about yourself are spot on. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Conflict_of_interest https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Conflict_of_interest and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Best_practices_for_editors_with_close_associations https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Best_practices_for_e...
Matticus_Rex 7y ago
Compared to what? I have the same issue with books in my focus areas that are widely revered, and even some peer-reviewed articles in good journals. I often disagree with things said on Wikipedia, but that's because I often disagree with the novice-accessible versions of things I know a lot about.

elect_engineer 7y ago

Full disclosure: I am the author of the Wikipedia essay "Wikipedia has cancer". See https://news.ycombinator.com/reply?id=21700802 https://news.ycombinator.com/reply?id=21700802 and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Guy_Macon/Wikipedia_has_Cancer https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Guy_Macon/Wikipedia_has_C... Re "I've heard bad things about writing articles on Wikis. Lots of ego-wars." you hear those things from new Wikipedia users who decide that the first thing they should do is either [A] "Fix" the Donald Trump article, [B] try to use Wikipedia to advertise their garage band, or [C] try to correct the biases I list at https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Wikipedia:YWAB https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Wikipedia:YWAB If you pick an article, check the history, and find that it ISN'T getting 300 edits every day, you will have a much easier time improving that article. My Wikipedia page has a link so you can email me. I will be glad to help if you want to become a Wikipedia editor. EDIT: Fixed a bad link.

ASlave2Gravity 7y ago
thank you very much. Will get in touch when the time is right. Also, that link doesn't work. think you need a dot! (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Guy_Macon/Yes._We_are_biased. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Guy_Macon/Yes._We_are_bia...)
- elect_engineer 7y ago
  It turns out that the ycombinator.com software won't accept a link that ends with a dot. This works: https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Wikipedia:YWAB https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Wikipedia:YWAB
edraferi 7y ago
Your bias link doesn’t appear to be correct.
- elect_engineer 7y ago
  Thanks! looks like it was a screwup by the ycombinator.com software. The original link ends with a period, and the software stripped it out -- probably because adding a period after a link that is at the end of a sentence is a common error. I replaced it with another page on Wikipedia that redirects to the "User:Guy Macon/Yes. We are biased." page. Full disclosure: I am the author of the Wikipedia essay "Wikipedia has cancer". See https://news.ycombinator.com/reply?id=21700802 https://news.ycombinator.com/reply?id=21700802 and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Guy_Macon/Wikipedia_has_Cancer https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Guy_Macon/Wikipedia_has_C...

deleted 7y ago

[deleted]

microcolonel 7y ago

Wikipedia is largely fine, as long as you stay away from things activists are currently interested in.