Use of Wikipedia
I advocate the use of Wikipedia as a centre of academic knowledge. Through the mediation of cognitive dissonance, the aggregation of global information into Wikipedia provides documentation on consensus reality. I encourage you to get a Wikipedia account, and to create and edit well-linked, well-cited, accurate articles. If you need help, you might read this guide or ask me for my advice.
The Open-Source Connection
Wikipedia is the flagship example of a software produced by the Wikimedia Foundation. Wikimedias are open-source software that you can download and modify. The content development model of a Wikipedia page mirrors that of its underlying software’s open-source conception. Just as in any software development circle, misinformation on Wikipedia will be viewed as a “bug,” and “given enough eyeballs, all bugs are shallow.” (Linus’ Law)
Vandalising a Wiki = Nazi Book Burning
Disbelieving in the usefulness of Wikipedia is perhaps short-sighted. It is a shame that many people leave the idea of Wikipedia, claiming that “it probably has factual errors.” These are exactly the people we need to contribute: those who can identify factual errors.
Stephen Colbert has made light of Wikipedia, testing the solidarity of the community of publishers, with his segment on “Wikiality.” It is true, in part, that Wikipedia relies on the somewhat romantic notion that contributors will have benevolent motives. The entropy of knowledge caused by society’s derelict is not a new problem. Here, I note examples such as the burning of the Library of Alexandria or any of the vanity-motivated censorship programmes of modern times (as in Nazi Germany, for example.)
There have been reactions to this destruction of knowledge - however, my principal agenda here is merely to mention these. The real problem lies in the immature product of human dissension which would rather use creativity for destruction, humiliation, and degradation than for the solidification of human accomplishment. Supporting anti-vandalism projects comes only after admitting that we live in a society where this sort of behavior is inevitable - a position I have as of yet been unwilling to take.
Please Respect Wikipedia
In short, if you are thinking about vandalizing a Wikipedia page for a “laugh,” I am asking you personally not to vandalize Wikipedia. This is something that means a lot to me, and I would much rather have you criticize Wikipedia constructively from afar than senselessly attack the community from within.