So to follow up on my little Wikipedia experiment, I checked the Stephen A. Smith page and I was pretty surprised.
To refresh your memory, a little over two months ago I went into Wikipedia and changed Stephen A. Smith's year of birth to 1968. And to end all of the suspense you must be feeling, nobody has changed it back to the correct date yet. That's pretty pathetic. I'm not saying that Stephen A. Smith's biographical Wikipedia Web site is heavily trafficked or anything, but I am just appalled at the whole idea that anyone can go in and change anything at a push of a button.
We went over in class how someone created a Wikipedia page changing the course of history... and people believed it! I just think it's funny and sad how dependent some people are on that Web site for information. I mean, it's a great starting point, but it's nothing to hang your journalist's hat on.
Along those same lines, it really makes me mad when people go online and think they can diagnose themselves with illnesses and injuries based off of what they read. But I guess they're right, there is no need for doctors, physical therapists and psychiatrists. I mean can you imagine someone having certain symptoms and going to Google to only be sent to some guy's personal site that is completely bogus? If you have every heard of the Darwin Awards, I think there is a possibility that someone can get one by incorrectly self-diagnosing based off of a Web site's errors.
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I think that this was a very valid experiment. And I must admit that I always go to Wikipedia first, for everything and anything. Granted I would never cite Wikipedia for anything, I think that a lot of people use it to try and get a general idea of what they want to know and go from there. However, if people are getting wrong information then they could be in big trouble. I also agree with you and think that people who change things for fun and for no good reason should not do that. First, they should get a hobby and do something else other than change things to confuse people. But I guess that when people can do whatever they want to do, they will.
ReplyDeleteNice job. I have a friend who makes up wikipedia pages for his friends (I still don't have one though) and changes things on other pages just for fun.
ReplyDeleteHe has subsequently been banned by the administrators for posting.