After reading a very interesting Case Study on Wikipedia, I started to investigate a little more on its origins and how it has helped to shape the way users get their information. And not only that; but how it has also shifted the way people expect to use and access information nowadays.
On my last post, I wrote about how social networks and social media are used to shape modern elections, but collaborative website like Wikipedia, iFixit and Quora have (in my opinion) moved the world forward:
On Wikipedia you can get very reliable information1, and it has been exponentially growing to almost 5,000,000 articles2:
Many sites tried collaboration to spread knowledge, but failed miserably. Even one site created by Wikipedia's founders (before wikipedia) called Nupedia failed.
Also there's the story of Aaron Swartz's (If you don't know about him finish reading this blog and then fire up Netflix and watch the documentary on him called "The Internet's Own Boy" or click here").
Aaron came up with the notion of a Wikipedia before the founders even thought of it3 and even those first efforts didn't materialize. In a sense, Wikipedia is one of the few survivors of various sites that have tried to use collaboration to spread knowledge globally.
iFixit for instance4; has over 19,290 free product manuals, more than 75,300 solutions to fix problems of over 5,440 devices. This collaborative site, works under the Creative Commons license and aims to reduce electronic waste by teaching people how to repair their devices.
What's different between the site that fail and the sites that flourish?
In my opinion: Openness and instant feedback.
In sites like Wikipedia, iFixit and Quora users can add or change an article/guide/question and see it instantly published. And as soon as its online, users can modify it or add content to it. There's no waiting time nor a review process nor an approval Committee.
These sites were very successful in creating a very participative decentralized network of creators and critics that is open to all spectators from the groundswell.
Decentralizing knowledge was the goal of Aaron Swartz and by trying to fight an uphill battle it ultimately destroyed him.
We should all fight for open knowledge, since is knowledge what will empower people to make better decisions. And after all, we are here because of our decisions and the ones that our ancestors made before us.
So fight for knowledge and fight to make this world a better place for all mankind.
[EVK]
1Terdiman, D. (2005). Study: Wikipedia as accurate as Britannica. Retrieved March 22, 2016 from: http://www.cnet.com/news/study-wikipedia-as-accurate-as-britannica/
2Graph Source: HenkvD - Own work. Number of articles on en.wikipedia.org and Gompertz extrapolation. retrieved March 22, 2016 from: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia#/media/File:EnwikipediaGom.PNG
3Segall, L. (2014). Aaron Swartz's father: He'd be alive today if he was never arrested. Retrieved March 22, 2016 from: http://money.cnn.com/2014/06/27/technology/aaron-swartz-father/
4iFixit Leaderboard. Retrieved March 22, 2016 from: https://www.ifixit.com/Users?order=date
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