WIKIPEDIA

So far, the consensus seems to be that most of us use Wikipedia to:

- Get a basic understanding (or summary) of a topic. (Instead of “officially” referencing, mainly because we’re not 100% sure if it’s accurate, and because our professors have told us it’s not a “real” source.)

- Pass time or fight boredom. It’s very easy to get “sucked into” (Emily’s well put words) the rabbit hole………clicking links that take you to a completely unrelated topic.

- Find links related to the topic, and to use the sources Wikipedia provided. Ironically, even though using Wikipedia as an “official” source is forbidden, several professors have suggested that we use the sources listed in the footnotes.

I offer a different use, one that I find myself doing quite often. Most days, I end up writing at least one long note to someone, addressing some sort of theological issue. A lot of my free time is spent “contending for sound doctrine.” Anyways, I often turn to Wikipedia to get a glimpse of what sort of beliefs there are about a particular subject. Since it is user submitted content, people will introduce facts based upon their feelings on the matter (for the most part). So, for example, if you go to the Wiki about homosexuality, you can get a good idea of how many people are accepting of it, based upon the number of entries citing work that don’t speak negatively of it. It’s sort of like a public opinion poll. How much passion and effort is being put into one side of an argument gives us a good estimate of how much that particular side is supported. Let’s face it; there are facts to support either side of any argument. Wikipedia is almost like a contest, trying to show which side has more “factual” support. I like to peak in, and see which side is “winning.”

I think Wikipedia is conquering expertise. As explained in the Lessig book, there are enough people (on the Interweb) to voluntarily cover all the necessary tasks in maintaining an encyclopedia (creation, editing) (p. 159). A “real” encyclopedia publisher would hire specialists for each task (editors, researchers, ect). With the open-source approach, Wikipedia gets by because somewhere out there, someone is willing to do a little editing, while another person doesn’t mind starting a new entry. Bit by bit, all the contributions add up to a finished (yet always evolving) product. Another reason Wikipedia can conquer the “official” encyclopedias is that they are addressing subjects that standard publishers have either ignored, or simply don’t have time to cover. The article in the New Yorker said Wikipedia has almost 10 times as many articles as the Encyclopedia Britannica, and I’m sure many of those are on topics that most “experts” or scholars would consider trivial or obscure (like the Juggalos Travis mentioned). All the same, that’s what people want. People want an encyclopedia that can teach them about something new, not just list old dusty facts.

The Bilton article posed the question, why on earth would we spend time finding, sorting, and sharing information for strangers? I think the reasons people are willing to give up their time are almost too numerous to list. Obviously, there’s the “for the greater good” argument, but I don’t think people are by nature that generous (at least not consistently). Perhaps the simplest reason is that people want to belong to something. Lessig pointed out that a sense of community appeals to people (p. 159). Bilton mentioned all the folks who scour the internet daily for scoops, and to get all the latest trends compiled. Maybe the reason they do it (subconsciously) is to feel useful (which relates to wanting to belong to something). Another obvious reason (that I think Lessig explained better) is that by contributing in these sharing economies, we gain a sort of “cred” or respect, at least at the particular site you’re adding to. I’ve seen lots of people deified (exalted) on message boards, simply because they’ve posted many times.

I contribute. Whenever I join a specific message board or community, looking for answers, I generally browse a bit and try to answer other people’s questions. And of course, whenever I download some sort of media, I try to reciprocate.