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points by qingcharles 8 hours ago | 0 comments
I know a certain Hollywood fellow who paid to get his page written, massaged and inserted when he was up-and-coming. I didn't know that was a thing, but apparently some of the more well-regarded editors on Wikipedia take paid gigs. It's right there on their profile pages. I think some even list the pages they were paid to write. They're not technically doing anything wrong, they just know how to write the article and know all the rules for getting it through the editorial process without a hitch.

Here's an example of the tag the user has on their profile page to declare which pages they have been paid to write:

{{paid|employer=First Last|userbox=yes|article=[[First Last]]}}

[–] andai 7 hours ago
There are groups that brag about controlling the narrative for their cause on Wikipedia, including for having articles removed, using techniques like "not notable enough" as a cover.

When reading Wikipedia, it's a bit inconvenient — I like my reading to be leisurely! — but I always have to remind myself, okay, who is incentivized in me receiving this particular narrative, rather than a different one?

[–] tourmalinetaco 2 hours ago
It’s especially bad when you look at the sources, and realize so many “high quality” sources have no concrete information to their claims, and there aren’t additional sources backing them because Wikipedia is not meant for “independent research”.

Wikipedia is, at best, a novelty for quick pop cult info, and as an adult I finally understand the horrors my middle school teachers warned me about.