Edits on Winehouse, Skrillex and Wile E Coyote: The role of a Wikipedian

Millions of us (yes, even journalists) use Wikipedia every day, but what goes on behind the pages we view? Metro talks to a Wikipedian to find out.

Edits on Winehouse, Skrillex and Wile E Coyote: The role of a Wikipedian
Putting the pieces together… How does Wikipedia work? (Picture: Wikipedia)

Have you ever heard of the band Chakk?

In case you didn’t know, they were an industrial funk outfit from Sheffield in the 1980s. They may not have broken into the big time, but they were influential and one of their members, Mark Brydon, went on to be one half of Moloko, who had hits with Sing It Back and The Time Is Now round the millennium.

Chakk may have been defunct since 1987, but earlier this month they reached a significant milestone: they finally got their own page on Wikipedia . Why? Because someone decided it was time they had one.

‘They had no article but they were actually reasonably noteworthy in the ‘80s,’ said David Gerard, a Wikipedia volunteer – or Wikipedian – who has been creating and making edits to Wiki pages for the best part of a decade.

‘They helped dance music in Britain along quite a way but they had no article, and I was going, “What? Why?” I quickly cobbled something together. You could do better sources for it and I’m sure people will come along with better sources but I’ve written something that’s a start.’

Wiki
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Mr Gerard, 45, lives in north east London and works for a publishing company, but in his spare time he is a dedicated Wikipedian for the Wikimedia Foundation which runs the site. Part of his role involves writing and tweaking articles on Wiki. This year alone, he has made edits to pages on Amy Winehouse, Neil Armstrong , film speed, Skrillex and Wile E Coyote and Road Runner.

‘I wanted to look something up on the web in late 2003 and my wife suggested Wikipedia,’ he explained. ‘I’d vaguely heard of it. I found it, I saw the link to edit it. I edit stuff as the whim takes me.’

Mr Gerard says it as administrative role on Wiki makes him a sort of online janitor. He is not alone. There are more than 17m registered Wikipedia users – anyone can make an edit on the site – of whom 130,000 are currently active editors.

‘We do it because it’s our idea of fun but it feels good to be doing something that people actually use,’ said Mr Gerard. ‘People do use Wikipedia all the time so it’s nice to be able to contribute to that. The volunteer editors really care about what they’re doing. We’re amateurs, we do it for love and we really care about getting it right.

‘Wikipedians tend to find out about something and go straight to Wikipedia to see if it’s been updated yet. Sometimes I buy old paper reference books to use in building Wikipedia articles on subjects that aren’t online.’

He began his Wiki editing career with updates on neo-Nazism and Xenu, who is believed by Scientologists to have been the dictator of the ‘Galactic Confederacy’ 75m years ago.

Wiki
How big is Wiki? Click link below to enlarge graphic

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Wikipedia is often criticised for its inaccuracies – and its acts of vandalism – but Mr Gerard says it should be considered as a jumping off point when gathering information on something.

‘You can say it’s not philosophically accurate in terms of providing perfection, but nothing does. It is amateur, it is just written by people, so take it with a grain of salt. That’s why we’re really big on references. We don’t claim reliability. We are useful as the first place to start on researches.

‘Wikipedia is like that really smart guy down the pub who knows everything about everything, but occasionally he’s full of it. We’re doing our best but we’re just people and we’re not perfect, so check the references.’

He said there was a competitive edge between Wikipedians, which becomes particularly evident when a celebrity dies, almost turning their page into a source of rolling news.

‘When Michael Jackson died, so many people coming to the article while so many people tried to update it ended up knocking Wikipedia over for a short time,’ said Mr Gerard.

Wikipedia’s methods have been under the spotlight recently. First, author Philip Roth complained he wasn’t allowed to update a Wiki post on his own novel, The Human Stain – the website said it needed secondary sources.

Last month, Wikimedia UK trustee Roger Bamkin resigned from his position at the organisation after a cash-for-influence row over his role in promoting Gibraltar to Wiki readers. Mr Bamkin denies being paid by the Government of Gibraltar to raise the profile of articles about the British overseas territory. Wikimedia has launched an investigation.

Alan Stevens, media consultant at Mediacoach.co.uk , said: ‘Wikipedia is a great example of what’s good and bad about the internet. On the plus side, it’s a superb resource of expert comment and information, updated within seconds of events happening.

‘On the minus side, it contains rumour, unverified information and sometimes cruel abuse. The problem is telling one from the other.

‘Wikipedians are on constant alert and most take their role very seriously. Like the old days of journalism, being first with a story, such as a celebrity death, is an “e-scoop”.

‘However, unlike the old days of journalism, publishing often happens without verification, which can lead to errors. Some celebrities have died a thousand deaths on Wikipedia, but are still hale and hearty.

‘It’s hard to imagine a world without Wikipedia and as long as it’s read with a degree of healthy scepticism, it’s a superb resource.’

Women now hold 'pee on a stick parties' apparently
Women now hold 'pee on a stick parties' apparently
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Johnny Depp's Transcendence hasn't won US critics over
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