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Editing the World

The definitive story of @Wikipedia at 20 by @bspeed8

https://www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/magazine/wikipedia-is-the-last-bastion-of-idealism-on-the-internet

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I came at this with a strong bias — I use Wiki every day, and the idealism of making, as Barbara says, the contents of an Oxbridge college library open to any English-speaking goat herder with a phone & connectivity is the best (maybe the only!) thrilling internet ideal

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But what i love about this essay is it really made me think — do i partly love Wiki because it is edited by nerdy guys who like facts and numbers like, well, me ...

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Likewise,I love how @jimmy_wales hasn't exploited the site, & the love of encyclopaedias & knowledge for its own sake that comes thru in Barbara's interview

It's fascinating his heroes include Hayek & Rand: near demons for some of us

There are different types of idealism

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There's just so much here

- from the absurd (WikiEdit wars of the co-founders)

- to the frightening (the downgrading of female novelists)

- to the inspiring (editors doggedly making marginalised thinkers count on Wiki — & thereby count in the world)

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@jamesrbuk @stephanieboland @sebbacon @bengoldacre @doessheeek @EvanHD are all very different, but all people i can imagine enjoying this!

https://www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/magazine/wikipedia-is-the-last-bastion-of-idealism-on-the-internet