Andrew's Internet History Blog

The History of the Internet through the eyes of Historians.

Updating Wikipedia Articles: A Non-stop Work in Progress

When reading the article about evaluating web sites I found myself really thinking about the concept of “currency” as detailed by the author of the article. The author introduces this concept outright by defining it and explaining its importance by stating, “The currency or regularity of updating information is vital for some types information and less so for others.” I find this concept very interesting and absolutely true, as many websites need to constantly update themselves not only to maintain factual accuracy but also to maintain their viewers as any article invested in the accuracy and reliability of their information finds great importance in the amount of people that use their website.

However, what I found really interesting was applying the currency concept to the most obvious example of such a concept, Wikipedia, and analyzing the process of currency. The video by Jon Udell was quite interesting in highlighting the revision process that takes place with each and every Wikipedia page. The most interesting part of the video, when considering the concept of currency, is observing when someone revises a page and inputs false information (whether intentionally or unintentionally) and the aftermath of such an occurrence. It was entertaining to see the speed at which such information is not only taken out, but also corrected, and its really puts into perspective the amount of people that could certainly be viewing even the most obscure of Wikipedia articles.

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