March 23, 2008
Wikipedia's Perpetual Constitutional Crisis
The Economist, execrable war propagandist and perennial curmudgeon, again vainly tried to establish their relevance in the third millennium by kibitzing on the social experiment called Wikipedia, the online collaborative encyclopedia. Apparently Wikipedia is being torn asunder from within by competing visions.
Duh.
Unfortunately, this instigated another assessment of belly button lent on libertarian-leaning Slashdot: The Battle For Wikipedia's Soul.
Wikipedia's infighting is called a constitutional crisis. It's normal. The rights of the group (majority) vs the individual (minority). How to decide what the rules are. How to reconcile competing agendas. Etc.
Clay Shirky, one of the very few lucid, timely, and relevant commentators of this digital life, has already explained this phenomenon in his essay A Group Is Its Own Worst Enemy. Read it to gain an understanding of the new world. One facet, at least.
Duh.
Unfortunately, this instigated another assessment of belly button lent on libertarian-leaning Slashdot: The Battle For Wikipedia's Soul.
Wikipedia's infighting is called a constitutional crisis. It's normal. The rights of the group (majority) vs the individual (minority). How to decide what the rules are. How to reconcile competing agendas. Etc.
Clay Shirky, one of the very few lucid, timely, and relevant commentators of this digital life, has already explained this phenomenon in his essay A Group Is Its Own Worst Enemy. Read it to gain an understanding of the new world. One facet, at least.
