Sphinn - The Dark Side of Wikipedia

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The Dark Side of Wikipedia

Went Hot: November 20, 2007 - 1:11 pm
Posted By: beanstalk 593 days ago
Topic Type: News Story (Jump to http://www.seomoz.org)
Category: Online Marketing

Rand discussed the dark side of Wikipedia and those who would edit it for "ulterior motives".

4 Comments

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Comments

from PPCblogger 593 days ago #

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"First, I've played around first-hand with some of the pages with Wikipedia. In fact, prior to the "nofollow" implementation on links, I personally had a few editorial accounts through proxy IP addresses, though I probably haven't actively edited Wikipedia pages in the last 9 months."

Naughty Rand.

from planetc1 593 days ago #

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What really burns me is when you know a page is manipulated to favor a particular group and there is seemingly nothing you can do about it.

from g1smd 593 days ago #

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I edit only when I see blatently untrue information in a technical article.

Magically, the original author seems to reappear within hours and revert the edit.

I rarely bother these days.

from corey 593 days ago #

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i find the best way "into" an article is to fix a broken link. there are lot's of clueless .gov sites changing their structure and breaking links for me to replace. no one objects when you are fixing broken links to "official" sources.

@g1smd

the key to avoiding reverts is to not isolate your changes. if i fix a link i'll be back later that week to add another trusted source along the same vein as the one i fixed. i continue lighting up the watchlisters with talk page updates, asking questions about where the article should go and if others would like to see this link added, and blah blah blah. it becomes hard to keep up and remain a prominent editor on the article unless you are willing to play chit chat with me on the talk page. greywolf was exactly right when he said he who spends the most time on the wiki wins. most of the edits i make have a description instructing people to get involved on the talk page. "fixed external links, see talk page" it helps divert editors from instantly comparing versions.