Week 3:Editing Wikipedia—BAI SHIQI(백시기)


This week, I really got involved in editing Wikipedia for the first time. While I definitely learned a lot, I also ran into more challenges than I expected.


The hardest part was meeting Wikipedia’s editing standards. I tried to add some new information to a page, thinking it would be a simple process—but my edits were either flagged or reverted pretty quickly because I didn’t include proper citations. I had actually read from a few different sources, but apparently, not all of them met Wikipedia’s standards for reliable sources. That was kind of frustrating. It made me realize that just knowing something is true isn’t enough—you also need to be able to prove it using sources that Wikipedia considers trustworthy and verifiable.


Another issue I ran into was disagreements with other editors. At one point, something I added got removed, and I couldn’t tell if I had made a mistake or if someone just disagreed with how I phrased it. I decided not to jump in and change it again right away. Instead, I checked the article’s talk page and saw that other editors were discussing similar problems. That was actually kind of cool—it showed me how Wikipedia works more like a conversation than a set-in-stone rulebook. It’s not one person in charge—it’s a group of people constantly debating and improving things together.


I also underestimated the technical side of editing. The citation templates, for example, were more complicated than I thought. I had to go back and fix my references more than once, either because I left something out or formatted it wrong. Even small formatting mistakes could mess up how the page looked, so I had to double-check everything before publishing.


Even though there were a bunch of hurdles, I’m glad I stuck with it. This experience helped me understand why Wikipedia is generally seen as reliable—it’s not easy to contribute, and the high standards, constant review, and detailed editing rules help keep the content in check. It’s definitely harder than I thought, but it also made me appreciate how much work goes into keeping Wikipedia accurate and up to date. Major respect to the editors who do this regularly.

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