Why does the myth persist that Wikipedia has "hired people who check" articles?
This myth is even believed in by people who know that anyone can edit Wikipedia. They might even know Wikipedia doesn't hire authors.
This myth is even believed in by people who know that anyone can edit Wikipedia. They might even know Wikipedia doesn't hire authors.
Moses
Favorite Answer
Like many of Wikipedia's "internal public myths," this one can be dated back to 2006, when co-founder Jimbo Wales began to make speeches about "emphasizing quality over quantity" and claiming that a new "advisory board" would help deal with quality and reliability issues. This article in PC Advisor is a good example:
http://www.pcadvisor.co.uk/news/index.cfm?newsid=6760
The advisory board was eventually created, but of course the people on it are mere names, they don't do anything content-related whatsoever, and they're just as unpaid as everyone else. In fact, most of them know less about Wikipedia's actual problems than the average Wikipedia administrator.
Wikipedia/Wikimedia propaganda has never and will never make it clear that users, administrators, arbitrators, advisory-board members, and other apparatchiks are unpaid, (mostly) anonymous, and non-qualified as reference-publication writers or editors. Unfortunately, lazy journalists see the word "administrator" and "board member" and assume there's money involved, and worse, often simply publish these misleading Wikimedia press releases verbatim.
So, just to be absolutely clear, there are no paid fact-checkers on Wikipedia. You also cannot buy stock in Wikipedia, and Wikipedia does not accept advertising, meaning that there would be no consistent income stream with which to pay fact-checkers even if they wanted to.
There is, however, a great deal of pop culture trivia, porn, defamation about people you've never heard of, and endless arguing about minutiae on Wikipedia - all of which is enough to give it a high Alexa ranking.
Anonymous
seem, it truly is undemanding that petroleum is a finite source. we are able to "run out" in some unspecified time interior the destiny. And of the present varieties of oil we use, we possibly will run out in one hundred years or so. it truly is oil recoverable with the aid of technologies on the time. And with the aid of run out, I recommend production won't meet our desires. of path, there are different supplies of oil that those persons are not speaking approximately. Shale oil case in point. With oil expenses staying at $70 and above for the final 5 years, it truly is economically achievable to initiate producing this. wager which usa is the Saudi Arabia of Shale Oil? it truly is staggering, it truly is america of a. Who is conscious, in 50 years, we could desire to be between the vast oil exporters, shale oil this is.
Brandon
Because people still like how fast and easy Wikipedia is and they don't want to face the fact that it's grossly inaccurate.
soulflower
I assumed that Wikipedia was user created but they did have "fact checkers" somewhere.
But I have consistently (especially concerning Black celebrities and even some major historical points) seen where there are things on it that are WRONG.
So what you are saying rings true, to me.
Anonymous
I don't know anyone who believes that.
It's an attitude that rather breaks the model. If you don't attempt to fix things yourself, but rather rely on some sort of imaginary fact police, then Wikipedia would never be accurate...