Comments on: Why Slate is Wrong About “the myth of Web 2.0 democracy”

By: David Rothman

David Rothman — Fri, 29 Feb 2008 20:09:56 +0000

My guess would be similar to yours, Guido…but I haven’t seen (or looked for) any data that would support either view.

By: guido

guido — Fri, 29 Feb 2008 18:23:09 +0000

Regarding the numbers on who generates content on wikipedia (the superusers) vs who deletes more content (people with less posts)
Wilson thinks the typo fixing is done by the many, but I reckon those small numbers are people doing spin/damage control on the small number of entries that interest them. Purely speculation…

Here’s the section:
“People who’ve made more than 10,000 edits add nearly twice as many words to Wikipedia as they delete. By contrast, those who’ve made fewer than 100 edits are the only group that deletes more words than it adds. A small number of people are writing the articles, it seems, while less-frequent users are given the tasks of error correction and typo fixing.”
Thoughts?

By: David Rothman

David Rothman — Tue, 26 Feb 2008 23:12:12 +0000

If it is true that there is a secret algorithm that gives some Diggers' opinions more weight, that would be a fair point, Mortimer. On the other hand, perhaps the electoral college and democratic party Superdelegates might be a fair analogy for these individual Diggers with disproportionate influence.

By: Mortimer

Mortimer — Tue, 26 Feb 2008 22:59:10 +0000

Certain Diggers’ opinions are given more weight because of a secret algorithm. That isn’t democracy – it’s aristocracy.

By: David Rothman

David Rothman — Tue, 26 Feb 2008 21:59:11 +0000

Stephen, I suspect we’d agree that trying to judge these sites by how “democratic” they are is silly. Wilson chose to use that word.

No, I didn’t demonstrate that the Slate article was “wrong” any more than the Slate article demonstrated that Wikipedia isn’t “democratic.” Opinions are like that. Fortunately, we’re each of us entitled to his/her own. Thanks for sharing yours- no need to apologize.

By: Stephen Johnson

Stephen Johnson — Tue, 26 Feb 2008 21:49:11 +0000

Sorry, but I don’t think you cam close to demonstrating that the Slate article was “wrong.” And who cares anyway how “democratic” Wikipedia is?

By: Aren Grimshaw

Aren Grimshaw — Mon, 25 Feb 2008 20:04:03 +0000

I am pleased to see your response to the Slate story. I wrote my own reply before reading yours and have very similar views.

I will add a link to your blog and please feel free to comment on my piece should you want to.

Many thanks

Aren
http://uknetweb.wordpress.com