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A Wiki World

For better or worse Wikipedia is hereto stay. While some find it a useful tool in gathering useful information about a topic, it makes most academics hurl. James Surowiecki studied the “Wisdom of Crowds,” in his best selling and appropriately titled book. The conclusion that he drew was that a group of non-experts are likely to be as accurate or more accurate in their knowledge, than their solo expert counterparts. Citing Wikipedia as a prime example, Surowiecki provides convincing evidence that the wisdom of non-expert masses has the capacity to form expert-level conclusions. 

When you think about it, Wikipedia is really remarkable. A bunch of unrelated people have come together without compensation (in fact even giving donations) with relatively accurate information on just about any topic. Not only is it convenient to be able to get information on any topic with a simple search, it's relatively accurate. Where Wikipedia breaks down is in the short term “pranks” that have appeared as a gaff on plenty of late night talk shows and sitcoms (see 30 Rock below). As Wikipediais likely to be one of your top search results when searching for a brand name it's ever important that you keep on top of it. A quick google of “starbucks coffee” shows Wikipedia at #3. 

With more and more people using it as their primary source of information, it is ever too tempting for competitors, pranksters, or people with too much time on their hands to edit your Wikipedia entry with some less then desirable information. For example, I was momentarily a transvestite concert pianist (courtesy of a dear friend) according to Wikipedia. I've seen potentially damaging things all over Wikipedia. Stephen Colbertwas lobbying for a while to get the number of elephants in the worldchanged. The bottom line is... Stay on top of it. Opening an account with Wikipedia is a good way to become part of the community and gain trustworthiness with your peers. So when you do have to make some “edits” the crowd won't balk at the newbie. Soon AirCheese will monitor it for you, notifying you of the integrity of your entry as well as the moment it changes. More on this soon.