It’s a misconception that Wikipedia is some free for all. The
editors of Wikipedia are a very fickle group, actually. For all the criticisms
of Wikipedia, it’s actually a very well protected site. Yes, anyone can edit it
but the truth is that’s not as easy as it sounds. Often a page will have a lock
on it if it’s a very important topic or person, and only certain people can
edit the pages. Also, every page of Wikipedia has a “talk” page behind it, a
kind of message broad where the editors and writers of that page talk about
what’s missing and reasons of why or why not something is added or removed.
Wikipedia is a lot more complicated than people give it credit for. A lot of professors and teachers, rightly so,
say it’s not a good research tool for a paper, and that is true. You should
never cite Wikipedia as your source. Even though Wikipedia has put protections
in place, it’s still too much of a risky, everyman kind of website that anyone
can edit to do so. That being said, it you just need information for personal
use or just curiosity, than it is a great resource. Just to show how diverse
Wikipedia is, one of my favorite pages is when they make a whole page for a
fictional character. Do we really need a whole Wikipedia page for Sheldon
Cooper? Of course not! Is it still kind of cool? Yes, it is. In a way,
Wikipedia celebrates all sorts of knowledge, but how do you get started as a
Wikipedia contributor? There are some useful tips to do so.
Set Up A Account- Wikipedia warns you that if
you edit the page, without an account, you will have your computer address
recorded and posted publicly on the backlog. The backlog is a list of people
who have added and contributed to the page. While it’s unlikely anything will
happen to your computer, your computer address number is still personal
information and you do not want to have that published on a public log. So, set
up an account, and make up a screen name.
Edit What You Know- Save stuff you have to research for later. As a beginner on Wikipedia, you will want to show people your knowledge. Don’t be ashamed if your first Wikipedia edit is of Harry Potter’s personal Wikipedia page. People will appreciate whatever you contribute, because it shows you at least know something. I edit a lot of pages of stuff I didn’t even know I knew about. The last page I edited was of Chevy Chase, adding the amount of episodes he appeared in of “Community” (81 episodes). This information isn’t important, per say, but is a way to start. It feels good using what you know, adding to what you know, no matter what the topic.
Back Up What You Say- Not for every single fact, but a good amount of them, if you can find a source, add it. The source on Wikipedia appears as a little number like [8] in a little box like the one I just wrote next to the fact. The little box will lead to a link at the bottom of the page, which lists all the links that back up facts. Often if a fact isn’t backed up with a source, a senior editor will remove the added fact even if it’s true.
Look For Pages That Need Help- Often a page on Wikipedia will have a notice on top of it saying there is something bias about the way the page is written or it has a ton of facts that aren’t backed up or it says something mean about the person or it’s just incomplete. Those pages are good starting projects for a new contributor on Wikipedia. These pages need help of some kind. They need to be edited and re-written up to the point that Wikipedia points it out in a top banner on the page. So, those are good places to start. One can become a senior editor fairly quickly on those ones if a good job is done. A senior editor is someone who can edit the page, even if a lock is placed on it.
Start To Expand To Other Topics- Once you master Wikipedia and the stuff you know, you should start to work on other pages. Sometimes it’s cool helping putting together a page as a news event unfolds. When John Edwards admitted he was having an affair, they where already putting together a page about the affair, and I contributed to it. Affairs of politicians are not something I am an expert on, but I was sick of editing pop culture pages and this led to an afternoon of research. I’ve contributed to many pages of topics I do not have any business really knowing about, but research can be fun and educational and that is why I expanded to topics that are out of my comfort zone.
Keep Your Language In Check- Like writing a
newspaper article, Wikipedia is not interested in how beautifully you write.
Make sure you are writing facts; even if it’s something you are passionate
about. Straight forever writing is something Wikipedia values. Write to the
point (excuse the pun) is something Wikipedia is all about.
And that’s how you can start contributing to Wikipedia. It’s
a great hobby, and a place to share your useful or useless knowledge, depending
on what you know. Wikipedia has a mind for everyone’s mind.
