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How Much Do You Trust Wikipedia?
J-Mac:
Damn - do you know what is truly sad? That I am not even a little bit shocked or surprised by any of this.
Jim
Renegade:
More scandal for Wikipedia:
http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20131024/04084624994/wikipedia-fights-back-against-socking.shtml
Wikipedia Fights Back Against Socking
from the sock-it-to-them dept
The idea that Wikipedia is dying has become one of the Internet's recurrent stories. Because something used by so many people every day is completely free and dependent on the selfless dedication of relatively few individuals, there is perhaps an underlying fear that it will disappear, and it will be our fault for not supporting it better. However, alongside major issues like the need for an influx of new contributors from more diverse backgrounds, one of the lesser-known challenges Wikipedia faces is the rise of "socking", or sock puppetry. Here's how Wikipedia defines the term:
The use of multiple Wikipedia user accounts for an improper purpose is called sock puppetry (often abbreviated in discussion as socking). Improper purposes include attempts to deceive or mislead other editors, disrupt discussions, distort consensus, avoid sanctions, or otherwise violate community standards and policies. The term comes from sock puppet, an object shaped roughly like a sock and used on the hand to create a character to entertain or inform. In Internet terminology it is an online identity used for deception.
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40hz:
^Are we at all surprised?
Whenever two or more have gathered together in hopes of accomplishing something worthwhile, it's only a matter of time before the jerks show up and try to take it over.
:-\
J-Mac:
This concept (sock puppets) has been a known problem at Wikipedia for years now. Wonder why is this news now?
Jim
Renegade:
This concept (sock puppets) has been a known problem at Wikipedia for years now. Wonder why is this news now?
-J-Mac (October 26, 2013, 12:48 PM)
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My guess is that they've just been able to catch & out some of them.
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