Thursday, January 25, 2007
Wikipedia is not happy with Microsoft after Microsoft offered to pay Australian blogger, Rick Jelliffe, to 'correct inaccuracies' on Wikipedia pages relating to Microsoft Office Open XML. It has been reported that Microsoft asked Jelliffe to disclose the deal on his blog.On his blog, Jelliffe states:
"I think I’ll accept it: FUD enrages me and MS certainly are not hiring me to add any pro-MS FUD, just to correct any errors I see."
Why is Microsoft doing this?
"Brooker said Microsoft had gotten nowhere in trying to flag the purported mistakes to Wikipedia's volunteer editors, so it sought an independent expert who could determine whether changes were necessary and enter them on Wikipedia." [SMH]
Is Microsoft doing the wrong thing? Well it seems the issue is neutrality which is one of the 'five pillars' of Wikipedia. Is there going to be a conflict of interest now Jelliffe is on the payroll? Considering the transparency and the amount of media attention this story is getting I am sure the ever vigilant Wikipedia editors will be all over any changes that are remotely slanted in Microsoft's favour.
Microsoft paying an impartial expert to edit Wikipedia pages is ok because:
Microsoft paying an impartial expert to edit Wikipedia pages is ok because:
- Wikipedia has been the victim of quality issues for a while (see guest post by Roger Clarke). By paying impartial experts who would not normally invest much time editing Wikipedia, the quality of articles will also increase.
- Anyone can edit Wikipedia. Alterations that aren't impartial are swiftly rectified. Mechanisms are in place to ensure that articles remain neutral (kinda).
Microsoft paying an impartial expert to edit Wikipedia pages is not ok because:
- Their actions could set a precedent that leads to the exploitation of Wikipedia for commercial advantage.
- The perception of bias is almost as dangerous as actual bias.
- They upset the creators of Wikipedia :(
I am inclined to wait and see what happens before throwing up my arms in disgust.
In the meantime, enjoy the lovely cartoon from xkcd.
(Pictured: "The Problem with Wikipedia", Randall Munroe - via his excellent webcomic xkcd, available under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 2.5 license)
(The House of Commons RSS feed)