Wikipedia's openness is its strength – Telegraph Blogs

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Shane Richmond

Shane Richmond is Head of Technology (Editorial) for Telegraph Media Group. He first joined the Telegraph in 1998 and has been Online News Editor and Communities Editor. He writes about all kinds of technology but especially Apple, iOS, ebooks and ereaders, and digital media.

Wikipedia's openness is its strength

It's hardly surprising that the suggestion of increased moderation on Wikipedia would divide the community. The site has built its reputation on being 'the encyclopedia that anyone can edit'. It's less radical to be 'the encyclopedia that anyone can edit as long as their edits are approved by a trusted Wikipedian' but that's what co-founder Jimmy Wales has suggested.

The plan was put forward after the Wikipedia entries for two US senators were vandalised to say that they had died. Wales proposed 'flagged revisions' to prevent a recurrence of such vandalism. At the moment, around 60 per cent of the English-speaking Wikipedia community is backing him but the debate has been fierce.

The discussion highlights the key question about Wikipedia: is it most valuable feature its openness or its accuracy? It's impossible for the encyclopedia to be both completely open and completely accurate, so Wikipedians have to make a decision about where they strike the balance.

For me, Wikipedia's value is its openness and the community should think very carefully before they jeopardise that. I don't expect 100 per cent accuracy from a Wikipedia page – I want a quick and rough introduction to whatever it is I happen to be searching for. Like most people, I apply common sense to what I find on Wikipedia based on what I want the information for, how important it is and how timely it is.

I'll probably believe an entry telling me that Brad Anderson directed the tenth episode of the first series of The Wire. If an entry tells me that someone has just died, I'll look for a second source. And if I need to perform an emergency tracheotomy then, no disrespect to Wikipedia, I'll probably seek the advice of a medical professional.

I hope Wikipedia doesn't cripple itself in a bid to please those who would prefer our every online interaction to be mediated by gatekeepers. Surely everyone knows by now that Wikipedia can be edited to say silly things? It can never be perfectly accurate. Nobody with common sense would expect it to be. Used sensibly, Wikipedia is an astonishing, unprecedented resource and it is its openness that makes it that way.

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