Wikipedia Approaches Its Limits 564
Reservoir Hill writes "The Guardian reports that a study by Ed H Chi demonstrates that the character of Wikipedia has changed significantly since Wikipedia's first burst of activity between 2004 and 2007. While the encyclopedia is still growing overall, the number of articles being added has reduced from an average of 2,200 a day in July 2007 to around 1,300 today while at the same time, the base of highly active editors has remained more or less static. Chi's team discovered that the way the site operates had changed significantly from the early days, when it ran an open-door policy that allowed in anyone with the time and energy to dedicate to the project. Today, they discovered, a stable group of high-level editors has become increasingly responsible for controlling the encyclopedia, while casual contributors and editors are falling away. 'We found that if you were an elite editor, the chance of your edit being reverted was something in the order of 1% — and that's been very consistent over time from around 2003 or 2004,' says Chi. 'For editors that make between two and nine edits a month, the percentage of their edits being reverted had gone from 5% in 2004 all the way up to about 15% by October 2008. And the 'onesies' — people who only make one edit a month — their edits are now being reverted at a 25% rate.' While Chi points out that this does not necessarily imply causation, he suggests it is concrete evidence to back up what many people have been saying: that it is increasingly difficult to enjoy contributing to Wikipedia unless you are part of the site's inner core of editors. Wikipedia's growth pattern suggests that it is becoming like a community where resources have started to run out. 'As you run out of food, people start competing for that food, and that results in a slowdown in population growth and means that the stronger, more well-adapted part of the population starts to have more power.'"
Re:How many editors are retirees? (Score:5, Funny)
I plan to spend my retirement trolling slashdot
And why has Wiki become this way? (Score:5, Funny)
Because jackasses can't stop making edits about Obama being the antichrist, bears and elephants fighting with robots in the year 2525, or Metamucil and Clorox mixed together being better than cocaine. This is why we can't have nice things on the internet.
Re:Surprising? (Score:2, Funny)
Exactly; obviously when you're trying to catalog everything in the known universe and its history, you will have a lot of to write. Once you more or less finish, you just have to keep it up-to-date. I have no idea why this is news.
Re:It's their own fault (Score:3, Funny)
Re:It's all about compromise. (Score:5, Funny)
You Should Have Outed Your ISBNs (Score:5, Funny)
Because, you know, there's nothing controversial about ISBN numbers.
If, however, a story had once run in the National Enquirer that the ISBN numbers were gay, not only would they have been included in the article, but three more paragraphs would have been added about them, with supporting citations from overseas versions of the National Enquirer, and a photograph of the ISBN number with some Dewey Decimal number believed to be it's life partner. ...and don't mod me flamebait until you've read the talk pages for Anderson Cooper, Tom Cruise, et. al.
Agenda? nahhh...
Re:It's their own fault (Score:1, Funny)
Re:It's their own fault (Score:5, Funny)
I'm not sure if there's specifically a list of wikis anywhere, but there is a wiki for Conservatives [conservapedia.com]. Most articles seem to be mostly fixated on debunking Abortion, Evolution, and Homosexuality.
That's awesome! I didn't know Conservatives had their very own slanted wiki. Now all we need to do is start ones for the rest of the population:
American big-city Liberal wiki:
Firearms: Evil devices designed only for murder.
Rural America: The part of the country filled with inbred hicks who are too stupid to govern themselves.
Communist Chinese wiki:
Tiananmen Square: No such article found.
Revisionist Japanese wiki:
Rape of Nanjing: No such article found.
Bataan Death March: No such article found.
Burmese Death Railway: No such article found.
Revisionist American wiki:
Trail of tears: No such article found.
French wiki:
American revolution: The war waged by France against Great Britain with some minor assistance from 13 British colonies.
Fall of France: No such article found.
Dien Bien Phu: No such article found.
Southern wiki:
War of Northern Aggression (redirected from American Civil War)
Neo-con wiki:
Anti-Americanism: They hate us because we are free!
Hippie Liberal Douche wiki:
Anti-Americanism: They hate us because every single injustice in the world is caused by American aggression and imperialism.
Ahmadinejad wiki:
Homosexuality in Iran: No such article found.
Tin-foil hat wiki:
TWA Flight 800: A civilian airliner shot down by the US Navy.
9/11: The attacks carried out on the United States in 2001 by agents of the Mossad with the backing of the GWB administration.
Wi-Fi: A wireless communications system that is known to cause brain cancer and other neurological disorders.
Security theater wiki:
Bottled water: Portable containers of bottled water. When sold in containers greater than 3oz it becomes the single greatest threat to civilian aviation since the invention of the box cutter.
Re:It's their own fault (Score:1, Funny)
It's a disease, didn't you know that?
Re:How many editors are retirees? (Score:1, Funny)
The technical term is "jizz mopper".
[citation needed]
Re:It's their own fault (Score:5, Funny)
Tv Tropes [tvtropes.org] is the most fun Wiki I've found in a while.
What!? You LINKED to a page on TV Tropes? You've doomed half of Slashdot! That site is a black hole that sucks you in and spits you out countless hours later. And I have proof [tvtropes.org]! Just click on that link and you'll see.
Off all things, linking TV Tropes, these crazy people.
Re:It's their own fault (Score:2, Funny)
Re:It's their own fault (Score:5, Funny)
What, no porn wiki?
Blowjob: Something that happens every single time you have sex and which often happens during breaks from anal and/or vaginal intercourse.
Bukkake: The natural endpoint of all sexual encounters between human beings from the Far East.
Virgin: A female who has never had sex and knows nothing about it. She will typically have five or six earth shattering orgasms the first time she engages in it and decide to do it with a complete stranger.
Foreplay: Stimulative actions that proceed sexual intercourse, usually consists of the female offering a blowjob and receiving nothing in return. Typically lasts 30 seconds to 2 minutes before penetrative sex begins.
Reverse cowgirl: The most popular position for sexual intercourse
Doggy style: The second most popular position for sexual intercourse
Missionary position: Article not found.
Breast: Secondary female sex characteristic. Usually ranges in size from huge to colossal.
Fingernail: A part of the human finger primarily made up of the keratin protein. On females usually ranges in size from 6 to 12 inches.
Penis: Male sex organ. Usually ranges in size from 10 to 18 inches.
Pubic hair: Secondary sex characteristic. Virtually everybody either completely shaves this off or allows it grow until it rivals the hair on the top of your head.
Cable repairman: Best occupation in the world. Only possible equal is the pizza delivery man.
Female ejaculation: Something that happens to every woman, every single time she has sex. Ejaculate may travel up to 50 feet and is usually measured in gallons.
Male ejaculation: The natural endpoint of most sexual encounters. Usually happens on the females chest but there are occasional exceptions (see Creampie)
Anal intercourse: Something that all women enjoy and all men are eager to engage in.
High-heeled footwear: Extremely comfortable female footwear that looks best when her legs are wrapped around one or more males.
Did I miss any? ;)
I had a correction to this reverted: (Score:1, Funny)
"end of sentence.Start of sentence"
Added a single space. And it was reverted.
Fuck Wikipedia.
Re:the purpose of Wikipedia (Score:3, Funny)