My _Guardian_ column on Wikipedia, advertising, Jimmy Wales's proselytizing
Wikipedia isn't about human potential, whatever Jimmy Wales says
http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2008/sep/25/wikipedia.internet
It's informative to observe how long Wales has been selling advertising around other people's work
This is my attempt to debunk some of the mythologizing of the development of Wikipedia, pointing out its initial consideration of being advertising-supported site (i.e. commercial), and examining the very extensive history of Jimmy Wales wanting to commercialize other people's work for private profit.
It's not any sort of secret. Business articles discuss it. But this is my attempt to provide sort of antidote to the web hype around the cult of Wikipedia.
By Seth Finkelstein | posted in press , wikipedia | on September 24, 2008 10:56 PM (Infothought permalink)
I did a short parody of corporate executives posing as social visionaries...
http://lists.ibiblio.org/pipermail/icommons/Week-of-Mon-20080121/001153.html
The original is here...
http://lists.ibiblio.org/pipermail/icommons/Week-of-Mon-20080121/001152.html
Brilliant article. I've long believed the editorial structure of Wikipedia is fundamentally flawed - on disputed articles, it is a Mad Max world of ideological, ethnic, religious, nationalist and vested interest groups fighting to the point of threatening violence. And serenely presiding over it all is the chummy character of James Wales. If altruism was the real motive, then the project's flaws would be ironed out by now.