Poll: Do you contribute to Wikipedia gun articles?

[CountryGent]

There are a lot of amazingly knowledgeable folks here, with respect to firearms, and a great many other things. Out of curiosity, do you share you knowledge by contributing content and/or editing time to Wikipedia?

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[Xaevian]

No. Wikipedia, the "urban dictionary" of the encyclopedia world? I don't think the vast majority of the world know that anyone can add whatever they want to it.

 

[Ruger Rich]

Good question and sound reasoning. However, there are just too many things I notice on there that are out of whack. So I don't and
primarily because my knowledge base is not that extensive. Do you ?

 

[Andy54Hawken]

I've thought about it....as there is much misinformation in regards to muzzle loading firearms...but....
If I did that...who would write about all that here on NWFA....?
Andy

 

[gmerkt]

there is much misinformation in regards to muzzle loading firearms.

Not just muzzle loaders. I've found errors in company histories. Things that weren't that difficult to research online with a little more effort. Since anybody can post to Wiki, you have to take information there with a grain of salt.

 

[msgriff]

Larry Sanger, who founded Wikipedia and was essentially forced out, has been working on an alternative called "Encyclosphere". This is due to the bias (I won't mention in which direction) that is prevalent within Wikipedia's corporate structure and throughout Silicon Valley. His project is also aimed at combating the misinformation that is perpetuated on Wikipedia due to it's content contributor structure. I look forward to contributing on Encyclosphere, until then I will continue to consider Wiki as an unverified source of information, complete with cited references from known biased organizations.

 

[CountryGent]

Do you ?

I had to vote "Yah, sometimes, but not a lot." I did a great deal in the early days of said as an unregistered IP. Then did even more so in following years, some of which whilst recovering from surgeries; starting 12—13 years ago with an actual account, and continuing, more or less, to present. Been fun, I guess.

Now? Only when it suits my fancy. There are a few topics I still find most interesting. Or if I'm being wacky and have burst of creativity I can't channel into my day job, side gig, or here. Do I care? Nope. Wikipedia long ago descended into a dysfunctional, insanely bureaucratized, mess of a venue. I could forgive almost all of that if it wasn't for the deletionist crowd, who destroy informative content as a matter of course. Which, naturally, serves up the question "why am I wasting my time with this crap?"

 

[Koda]

I would if I had the time, I consider it to be a useful resource. Lots of gun history in there too.

As far as the political and accuracy aspects Im undecided. Ive only found a couple things Ive questioned over the many years. The thing about crowd sourced information is that if someone is wrong on the internet, somebody else is going to correct them. I just think of it as a quick easy reference for information. If I ever wanted to validate a subject I can just search its equivalent on a real encyclopedia https://www.britannica.com/

 

[OldBroad44]

No.
I have little interest in subjecting myself to arbitrary editing or alterations made by who knows who.
Gun articles lose much of their value if they are authored by multiple anonymous people. Even if I find the first half an article excellent and in agreement with my own knowledge, I can't trust the rest of the article because critical pieces might have been written by someone else. NWFA posters' contributions are identified by their handles. One rapidly learns which handles go with solid knowledge in which areas.

 

[titsonritz]

I've thought about it....as there is much misinformation in regards to muzzle loading firearms...but....
If I did that...who would write about all that here on NWFA....?
Andy

FIFY

 

[Caveman Jim]

I don't click on links with wiki in it. If it ain't in the Encyclopedia Britannia its fake…

 

[solv3nt]

There are a lot of amazingly knowledgeable folks here

He called me amazing

 

[Diamondback]

Why bother? The gun-haters and Anti-SME's (particularly the HK fanboiz) will just edit it right back to The Narrative five minutes later.

 

[Ura-Ki]

I find plenty of mistakes all the time, but its a real bugger to dig up all the correct facts and then submit them, so I just pass on by!