Wikipedia

It seems I am not alone in my lack of experience with wikis (if that is the correct plural). However, I wanted to try and double check, seeing if I have in-fact dealt with a wiki and not been aware of it. So I turned to the ever reliable Google and, shockingly, the wikipedia list of wikis was the first to come up. After scanning through this list, I can safely say I don't have any personal experience with a wiki of any kind. The extent of my experience is through using google, since it seems more often than not a wikipedia article is the first to show up in the list of related links. I am actually a little surprised how often a wikipedia article shows up as the top result, considering the professional websites that are out there concerning various topics. On the issue of using a Wikipedia entry as a source for a class, I will say that I do not think that it should be used as such. (I'll never forget when I came across the term "Wikidemia" meaning "An academic work passed off as scholarly yet researched entirely on Wikipedia.") However, I can almost always find at least one useful link in any given Wikipedia article, and it is those sources which may be used in scholarly work.

The collaborative knowledge of Wikipedia is a different type of expertise. It cannot, however, compete scholastically with the groups of experts who work together to create various different things such as textbooks or even websites. I say scholastically, because wikis are perfect for supplying a knowledge of our culture. I doubt that a group of intellectuals is going to know as much about Lady Gaga as various college and high school students. There is no better expert on culture than the people who live and breathe it. So, in the sense of culture, especially pop culture, Wikipedia will always win the battle over expertise. Scholastically, however, I don't believe it can ever be taken as a reliable source. Though it is suppose to be a NPOV, it is made clear throughout the "Know it All" article that this line is often crossed, especially on hot-button topics. Concerning the issue of truth, this can vary to different people on differnt subjects. For example, the Flat Earth Society believes the truth is that the world is indeed flat, not round. This is obviously different from the majority view of truth concerning the matter.

I firmly believe there is never enough time in the day. While I do not spend my time on wikis, I do spend various amounts of time on my own blog which I find links and articles and information for. (I am not nearly as diligent as others I know, and the amount of time spent on this has severely lessoned with the new school year.) I feel like it is almost human nature to want to share information. The Internet has opened the gates for us to find and create information, not just take in what is fed to us. This power is immense, and it's something we grab onto without even fully realizing it. Bilton mentions that sharing has become a reflex for us. I couldn't agree more. As soon as we see something interesting, we want to share it with the world. We may find the information for ourselves, but we share it to spread the knowledge. However we also share so that we can "be the one who knew," the one who told everyone else, a fairly honorable position in our society.

Knowledge has always equalled power, throughout all of history. This hasn't changed. If we have the opportunity to be labeled as "knowledgeable" about a subject, any subject, we will grab onto it as tightly as we can. And then, we run with it.