Companies Altering Wikipedia to Remove Negative Views

[admin]

According to reports on Video Business on Line and Wired, a recently developed database that tracks anonymous Wikipedia entry changes back to their originating IP address is uncovering some interesting corporate activity. Using WikiScanner, Wikipedia users are discovering a wide range of companies, organizations, and public figures that have been taking advantage of the open format of Wikipedia to remove or slant unfavorable content in certain articles to their own ends. Wired has started a web page to tally discoveries of the most egregious abuses.

Discuss "Companies Altering Wikipedia to Remove Negative Views" here. Read the article.

 

[mtrycrafts]

According to reports on Video Business on Line and Wired, a recently developed database that tracks anonymous Wikipedia entry changes back to their originating IP address is uncovering some interesting corporate activity. Using WikiScanner, Wikipedia users are discovering a wide range of companies, organizations, and public figures that have been taking advantage of the open format of Wikipedia to remove or slant unfavorable content in certain articles to their own ends. Wired has started a web page to tally discoveries of the most egregious abuses.

Discuss "Companies Altering Wikipedia to Remove Negative Views" here. Read the article.

Sounds like the wild west on Wikipedia
But, hopefully with this tool the perpetrators will have egg on their faces, especially when the removed segments are back in

 

[avaserfi]

Its not just companies, surprise, royal families do it too!

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070831/od_nm/dutch_royals_wikipedia1_dc;_ylt=AokDgkyjXYKwghWD0bW3ITcSH9EA

 

[stratman]

IMO this has destroyed the little credibility Wikipedia had, who can go in there read an entry and wonder if it's not altered, incorrect or just a plain lie. Wikipedia is the lazyman's encyclopedia: fast, but not too straight with the truth.

 

[Buckeye_Nut]

IMO this has destroyed the little credibility Wikipedia had, Wikipedia is the lazyman's encyclopedia

With an emphasis on little


HeHe... I'm amazed at how todays kiddy generation (teens-20'somethings) believe everything they read on that site.

 

[Davemcc]

If I just need an online reference for something I already know, Wiki is a fast and cheap resource. I have noticed a lot of challenges to the information on some topics, but that's to be expected on an open site.

 

[Buckeye_Nut]

Wippi is essentially a gossip information resource anyway, so I don't see why it's so bad if the source of the story itself makes an entry. Why not get the gossip directly from the source?

I'd rather Wippi got their information from the prince himself.....rather than a 16year old pimply faced child in Idaho who might have been the most recent editor to the entry.

 

[Adam]

HeHe... I'm amazed at how todays kiddy generation (teens-20'somethings) believe everything they read on that site.

Hee, hee. So, what is there to say about us and this site?

 

[Davemcc]

Hee, hee. So, what is there to say about us and this site?

Caveat Emptor.

 

[Adam]

Caveat Emptor.

No doubt. Excellent point, Dave.

In an ironic twist, I used Wikipedia to verify what that phrase meant.

 

[avaserfi]

No doubt. Excellent point, Dave.

In an ironic twist, I used Wikipedia to verify what that phrase meant.

Me too, Wiki was the first site that pops up and after I learned what it meant. I found it was a great point too.

 

[emorphien]

People try too hard to make wikipedia in to something it isn't and misunderstand it for what it is. It's an amazing resource, particularly if you've forgotten something or need a refresher or background on some material. Math & science articles there are usually quite helpful and from most of the ones I've seen, rarely incorrect (there are too many wiki nerds interested in the topics I suppose to let some mistake last long).

 

[mtrycrafts]

In an ironic twist, I used Wikipedia to verify what that phrase meant.

You mean that wasn't alter modified or mutilated yet? LOL
So it has some great benefits.

 

[Davemcc]

I just discovered that I am personally referenced on Wikipedia on no less than three pages.

 

[Adam]

I just discovered that I am personally referenced on Wikipedia on no less than three pages.

I just discovered that I am personally referenced on Wikipedia on no more than zero pages.

So, Dave, are you willing to share the links to those pages? Always interesting to me to learn more about the people here.