Dave Still Hates Wikipedia
August 14th, 2008 by EyeOnWinerIt’s interesting to see how differently Dave sees himself compared to how the rest of us see him. Take, for example, today’s rant about the Wikipedia court victory:
While it may have been a good defense in court, their position is nonsense. Wales et al promote Wikipedia as an authoritative encyclopedia. Wikipedia likes certain people, and dislikes others — it tends to like people who say it’s wonderful and utopian, and dislikes people who have mixed opinions about it. I believe it’s used as a way to attack people they don’t like.
The fact that the court’s ruling was indisputably the right one is a topic for another blog, but it’s worth taking a look at Dave’s perception of Wikipedia. This is a man who has a profile which is watched over hawkishly by friends of his (Hi, Betsy!). Even the most benign insinuation of non-perfection must be sourced perfectly, while glowing happy-speak took a tremendous amount of effort to eradicate.
As it stands, Dave’s entry serves as a testament to the fact that the Wikipedia model works — if slowly and imperfectly — because for all of the furor around Dave and his contributions (both real and perceived) — his profile has finally made its way to being a fair statement of his work and his personality.
Want to know why he doesn’t like it? Check out the “Relationship to the public” section and the link to EOW — those two are a big part. And the fact that it doesn’t claim him as the creator of all things bloggy.