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The biggest category of things on Wikipedia not to trust is anything which is controversial and involves people on the Internet, either as participants or as re
by Jiro 4y ago
The biggest category of things on Wikipedia not to trust is anything which is controversial and involves people on the Internet, either as participants or as reporters (which means a lot of recent material that's not just about bare facts). The contents of the article are going to depend on which faction of people on the Internet is better able to muster the editors to make the article show what they want while still literally following Wikipedia rules.
Plain hoaxes like the inventor of the toaster are actually less harmful because if someone does eventually catch them, they can get fixed.
- akolbe 4y agoAgree that bias is always a potential issue. But hoaxes that last a decade are harmful. If something is not fixed in a lot of people's lifetime, it is little consolation to them if someone may fix it later ... Moreover, even when hoaxes are discovered and deleted on Wikipedia, they last elsewhere. The toaster hoax for example has now entered over a dozen books. The BBC articles that featured it have not been corrected: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/1D0xzxYf9ykH9gcYp9BnYW4/5-everyday-objects-with-curious-histories https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/1D0xzxYf9ykH9gcYp9... https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20130405-a-trim-toaster-for-small-kitchens https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20130405-a-trim-toaster-f... https://www.bbc.co.uk/newsround/56192812 https://www.bbc.co.uk/newsround/56192812 The historical record has been permanently corrupted.