WIKIPEDIA

Who We Are

Brandon Rosenthal

John DiMieri

What do you think Wikipedia is and how would you characterize it?

DISCUSSION QUESTION #1

Its WikiMedia?!

In fact yes it is…The Company is actually called WikiMedia Foundation and its mission is fulfilled by Wikipedia.

Mission Statement

“The mission of the Wikimedia Foundation is to empower and engage people around the world to collect and develop educational content under a free license or in the public domain, and to disseminate it effectively and globally.”

DISCUSSION QUESTION #2

Did they good job fulfilling their mission statement using Wikipedia?

How often do you use it? Why do you use it?

Lets See How Jimmy Wales Describes Wikipedia

January 7th 2013 – Colbert Report Interview!

http://www.colbertnation.com/the-colbert-report-videos/422660/january-07-2013/jimmy-wales

Information on Wikipedia

A constantly updated, community organized internet encyclopedia. Ability to allow random people, as well as a

dedicated following, to edit any page. As a safety net, there are 85,000 unpaid

workers Ability to block people’s edits Make new pages Correct incorrectly edited pages

Information on Wikipedia

The Wikipedia Community Power Structure

Administrators can block people, restrict certain pages, and delete pages, as well as edit.

Wikipedia editors can award “barnstars” to each other

New users Up to sixty percent of Wikipedia's registered

users never make another edit after their first 24 hours – Wikipedia culture is unique and scares “outsiders” away.

Information on Wikipedia

Vandalism Issues Definition: To falsify information on a

Wikipedia page Website is subject to human error The law views Wikipedia as a “private citizen”

rather than a “public figure” There is a right to be anonymous , thus

making hard to trace edits Cyber Bullying

Discussion Question 3

Do you think you should be held accountable? Is being blocked by users enough? Should you be able to edit anonymously?

Information on Wikipedia Global Reach

There are articles in 285 languages as of January 2013

Donations are taken by any currency around the world

24 million articles

It has become the largest and most popular general reference work on the Internet, ranking sixth globally among all websites on Alexa and having an estimated 365 million readers worldwide.

Information on Wikipedia

Accuracy-Wikipedia admits “there is no guarantee of validity”-However, a 2007 study by researchers at Dartmouth College found that “anonymous and infrequent contributors to Wikipedia are as reliable as those contributors who register with the site”-McPherson vs Wikipedia - Abraham Lincoln Comparison Both articles were accurate and covered the major

episodes of Lincoln’s life

Discussion Question 4

Have you ever donated? Do you plan to donate now after this

presentation?