I was reading an article that although very interesting was a very boring matter. The presidential race is not a secret after the smoke has cleared from the last few months the final two big dogs are almost foreseeable. This article I read discussed the difficulties of editing presidential candidates webpage on Wikipedia. Wikipedia is an online encyclopedia available in 250 languages and constantly being updated because any Joe Schmoe with a computer can decide to edit a page. A point made in the article was that when a candidates name is googled the first thing to come up is their Wikipedia site, which makes it an important online resume for that candidate. Where I felt the whole argument discussed in the article lost its integrity was when it discussed the content of what was being edited. Whether it was an image of a naked black man being deleted from Obama’s page or minor details to a candidate’s actual name. I understand the issue at hand but feel there should be a greater emphasis on the candidate’s policies instead of whether their name is Fred or Freddie.
3 comments:
I think that is a problem that is going to happen with anyone famous, whether they are running for president or acting in the next big hit. There are always people out there to write stupid, pointless stuff about something just because they don't like them. Wikipedia being as popular as it is, is bound to be constantly updating since it's a public area where anyone can change it. Although it should be more important about what their policies are, people are still going to write whatever it is they want and that had become a huge problem with the internet.
Wikipedia has integrity issues, and therefore people who want to get a fair and legitimate source of information would not totally rely on Wikipedia, especially for political candidates. Wikipedia is a starting point, and they always have people editing information, so it has its value. However, serious reporting by newspaper and commerical media has its place and ensures facts and information are well researched and verified before articles are published.
I agree that things have gotten out of hand on Wikipedia. To the point that people battle eachother on editing a minor detail on a candidates page.
What they should do is when people google a canidate, the candidate's website should be the top link on their search response.
Post a Comment