The Wars of Words on Wikipedia’s Outskirts

[still.trucking]

The discovery that Wikipedia is not the anarchic paradise some might imagine can be a shock. Others see hypocrisy, evidence that there is a class of users who control what appears there, people who benefit from Wikipedia’s huge public clout with little public scrutiny.

But taking the longer view, it is apparent that in its brief history, Wikipedia is quickly replicating the creation of society, from an Eden (no rules, no need for rules) to a modern entity.

“Bureaucracy is inevitable,” said Joseph Reagle, whose Ph.D. thesis was about the history of Wikipedia and collaborative culture, crediting the German sociologist Max Weber. “Even if you have a supposed anarchy or collective, that doesn’t mean the rules aren’t there, just that they are implicit.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/08/techn ... l?_r=1&hpw

[mtmynd]

deep... too deep

[still.trucking]

There were no rules in the garden of Eden he said.



It is deep,
deep B.S.

[.Lucy.]

Except of course, the fore- bidden apple, that is.

Bitten, to be sure.

[jackofnightmares]

For some reason that reminds me of a joke about biting into an apple with half a worm in it.

My new sock puppet. About as goth as I can get these days.

Very honored to see you here.

Amazing to see how well you have aged.

To tell you the truth I would rather talk about Roberto Clemente than Che.