User:Medtech349

Welcome to my profile.

Status
Excited to go home in a week Frantically finishing up the school year

About Me
Hello all, I am a long time Wikipedia user who finally got around to creating a user name. I have made unregistered edits here and there but never anything substantial. I am a graduate student at Cornell University persuing my Masters Degree in Communication. I am from Commerce Township, Michigan.

Thoughts on Wikipedia
Its hard to get started. There are so many established norms and rules.

Interesting Links
Wikipedia

Systemic bias

Essjay Controversy

Neutral point of view

Conflict of interest

WikiProject Countering systemic bias

Vandalism

Special:Longpages
 * note that races in warcraft universe is #21

Major Contributions
Tarleton Gillespie

Project Components

 * My User page http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Medtech349
 * My User Talk page http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User_talk:Medtech349
 * Tarleton Gillespie http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tarleton_Gillespie
 * History of article http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Tarleton_Gillespie&action=history
 * Comparing different versions to see the changes http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Tarleton_Gillespie&diff=129662224&oldid=129427944
 * Discussion page of article http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:Tarleton_Gillespie

What am I trying to address

 * Communal knowledge is better than individual
 * Inclusion of not only facts that are up to date (if there is an active community) but also common opinion that would not be in an encyclopedia
 * Drawbacks of Wikipedia
 * Vandalism
 * Inaccuracy from un
 * Bias of editors - stereotypical socioeconomic demographic for wikipedia editors
 * Skewed content - groups of people drawn to certain articles provide skewed information
 * Falsifying information - portrayal online doesnt have to be truthful, what if a user creates a virtual identity like one creates avatars in Second Life (to explore other personas or idealize themselves)

Relating back to class

 * Turner – very particular set of people with particular set of ideals. Does Wikipedia as a whole have a built in bias?
 * The average Wikipedian on English Wikipedia (1) is male, (2) is technically-inclined, (3) is formally educated, (4) speaks English to an extent, (5) is white, (6) is aged 15–49, (7) is from a predominantly Christian country, (8) is from an industrialized nation, (9) is from the Northern Hemisphere, and (10) is more likely to be employed in intellectual pursuits than in practical skills or physical labor
 * What if the community realizes its bias and tries to address it?
 * Bijker – interpretive flexibility, some people spend more time editing their user page than articles and view Wikipedia as a social tool, this has become very prominent in the past year, social construction?
 * Lyman - Is Wikipedia a virtual community or a digital library/database?
 * Shirky - Social Software Encodes Political Bargains, political groups and public relations people keep a very close eye on wikipedia, wikipedia has no barriers to membership