Wikipedia:Wikipedia Signpost/2007-07-23/In the news

Administrator writes SEO tips
Durova, who is an administrator, wrote an article for a search engine optimisation magazine in SEO Tips & Tactics From A Wikipedia Insider. Her article begins with an example of what happens when ignorance of the ways of Wikipedia meet the transparency in Wikipedia's archives: the ease in which biased edits from Congressional computers have been traced. Evidence can be gathered even without additional administrator tools. Durova posits eight "white hat strategies" for driving traffic to a client's site, concluding that one should "Look for approaches that reconcile your goal of sending traffic to websites with Wikipedia's goal of being an informative and reliable first stop for research". A follow-up comment agrees with her sentiments that being ethical with Wikipedia is the only way to go.

Cult of the Amateur review
Last week, the Signpost carried a review of Andrew Keen's The Cult of the Amateur (see archived story); The Plain Dealer also carried a review, albeit more sympathetic to the views of the author. The reviewer found Keen's book "scary and convincing", and he believes that the book offers food for thought for those who participate in blogosphere. His only criticisms relate to the Keen's use of anecdotes to make his arguments, and his ignorance of the role of traditional media in certain events that he blamed on the influence of bloggers.

Wikipedia editors said to lack maturity
Entitled Wikipedia - Can Teenagers Write An Encyclopedia?, the article written by Sam Vaknin in the Global Politician argued that Wikipedia's flaw lies in the inexperience of its editors, who, the article claims, are mostly under the age of 25, or "teenagers". Blissfully ignoring the possibility of under-25s attending or having attended an institution of higher learning, or the use of consensus on Wikipedia articles, the article debunks the ability of "teenagers" to satisfactorily evaluate and synthesise third-party sources and other material: "Knowledge is not comprised of lists of facts, "facts", factoids, and rumors". It asserts that knowledge cannot be democratised; instead, it must be "learned", and established through merit. Finally, the article argues for the existence of a "pernicious" feedback loop between Wikipedia, Google, MySpace and other Internet properties frequented by the younger generation, a feedback loop that apparently results in the teens of MySpace dictating Google's search results.

Other mentions in the news
Other mentions of Wikipedia in the online press include:
 * Tetrapods - about the oddly-shaped wave-breaking blocks on the coast of Japan
 * Websites, classic films on English study list - New South Wales, Australia, students read pages from Wikipedia as part of the English syllabus
 * Old growth Chugach National Forest celebrates 100th birthday - Wikipedia cited about creation of national rainforest