Wikipedia is where the history of our time is recorded, and while imperfect, it's quality mechanisms are getting better all the time. There's a really good article in the Times today about this.
Sure, the whole "wisdom of crowds" thing isn't perfect, but as Churchill reminds us, it's better than any other system we have.
Nothing is easier than taking shots at Wikipedia, and its many mistakes (most often instances of deliberate vandalism) are schadenfreude’s most renewable resource. But given the chaotic way in which it works, the truly remarkable thing about Wikipedia as a news site is that it works as well as it does. And what makes it work is a relatively small group of hard-core devotees who will, the moment big news breaks, drop whatever they’re doing to take custody of the project and ensure its, for lack of a better term, quality control.
Used to be, the guys who won wars got to write history. Now, with Wikipedia, we all get to contribute.
Comments