Online Encyclopedia Improvements
Wikipedia founder launches a better version of his creation
Mar 27, 2007
One of the original founders of Wikipedia, Larry Sanger, has officially launched a new version of an online encyclopedia, due to the many problems he has seen with the Wikipedia version over the years. A new edition to the online encyclopedia field is further evidence of the power of the internet as a medium for information, and how much misinformation can cause problems for the wider internet community.
Wikipedia’s Reach
Wikipedia has become a phenomenon that cannot be ignored: this leading online encyclopedia allows readers to edit entries on any subject, thus supposedly creating a culture of openness and inclusiveness. The idea of Wikipedia is that each person who has knowledge about a particular topic should be able to contribute to the online community as a writer/editor on posts of his or her choice.
New ideas
Sanger was let go from Wikipedia in 2002, due to cost-cutting measures. After taking some time off to regroup, Sanger has spent the last few years developing a new online encyclopedia which will apparently solve many of the issues that has plagued Wikipedia. In particular, the issue of posting factually incorrect information has made Wikipedia into a tool that can be corrupted by those who are supposed to be making the website legitimate. To do this, Sanger has hired experts and professionals to check on topics periodically to make sure that what is being posted by contributors is valid and true. Most importantly, Sanger is expecting contributors to Citizendium to use their real names: he believes that this will significantly reduce the tendency to lie (either intentionally or otherwise) that has plagued certain Wikipedia sites.
Importance of improving online encyclopedias
The reason that the new direction that Sanger is going on matters to those interested in mainstream media issues is that the transparency that Wikipedia trumpets so loudly has been shown, time and again now, to be very much a farce. The incident with journalist John Seigenthaler Sr. last year, when Seigenthaler St. was said to have killed JFK and eaten his remains, was the most high-profile of numerous guffaws. Especially political issues, such as those involving religious and moral choices, are posts that are particularly vulnerable to being tampered with. These corrupted posts are then used by thousands (and maybe millions) of individuals for essays, news stories, arguments, debates, and more.
Yet when Wikipedia information is found to be false, there is a sense that it goes far beyond this specific online encyclopedia. In fact, legitimate, valuable internet sites all get tainted as serious news sources when incidents such as those that are so common with Wikipedia occur.
