[WikiEN-l] Re: WikiEN-l Digest, Vol 21, Issue 44

Wed Apr 13 00:17:55 UTC 2005

On 4/12/05, Blair P. Houghton <blair at houghton.net> wrote:
> Seth Ilys <seth.ilys at gmail.com>
> >On Apr 12, 2005 12:29 PM, Blair P. Houghton <blair at houghton.net> wrote:
> >> Seth Ilys wrote:
> >>> >We're a wiki. Why mess with success?
> >
> >> Interesting definition of success you have.
> >
> >
> >Are you denying that Wikipedia has been successful?
> >
> >What has made us one of the top 100 sites on the 'net if we aren't
> >doing *something* well?
> 
> Now you're changing your definition of success from success as a reference to "doing something well".
> 
> And you're applying the fallacy of Appeal to Popularity.

I wasn't sufficiently clear, I think. I'm defining success *as*
popularity, because I believe that the popularity of the site comes
from the fact that we are a generally reliable reference source.
Independent studies have found that the quality of writing and the
accuracy of our articles are comparable to, if not better than, most
published encyclopedias. I simply don't see the rampant errors and POV
that you describe; I believe that you're imagining a problem where
none exists.

However, if you have evidence that POV and vandalism are running
rampant and unchecked on the 'pedia, I'd love to see it. I rather
think you're being alarmist, Blair.

But I'm also a perpetual and incurable (and sometimes irrational)
optimist as well. :)

-- 
Seth Ilys 
   email: seth.ilys at gmail.com
   IM (aol, msn, yahoo): JehanneDaix
   blog: http://somewhereindurham.blogspot.com/