I know I knock Wikipedia a little bit … but it is inescapable, whether it is completely ‘trustworthy’ or not. I go there all the time — and reference it. (It’s also top-of-the-pops in search results.)
I listened to this fascinating BBC documentary ‘Wikipedia at 10‘ when it first came out earlier this year, and again this morning … you might be interested in it.
Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales tells how his first version of the free online encyclopaedia utilised ‘a very old-fashioned, top down, very controlled model’ which ‘failed in no small part because it wasn’t much fun for the volunteers’ … before they adopted a wiki model where anyone (gulp) can create or edit a page … and suddenly productivity took off. Interesting.
I like what this ‘Wikipedian’ says …
…. the personal relationships can be scratchy, the end product isn’t always what you’d want, but the direction, the momentum, the trend is so good it really is a very interesting idea ….
Which I found encouraging. ‘Scratchy’ — good word. I know some people can get cranky with me (and vice-versa, I guess) … that’s a challenge for collaboration.
Question: Now, how can we work with, work through our differences in other cyber-communities? I’m open.
There’s also some good discussion about the non-soapbox aspect of Wikipedia and their goal of ‘neutrality’. Worth listening if you have an interest in these things. Let me have your thoughts, please …
Listen here if you have Flash installed:
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Or, here’s a link to the MP3 file for the rest of us.
– P
