Week 5: Challenges in Editing Wikipedia—BAI SHIQI（백시기)

Summary
This week I kept working on editing Wikipedia, and to be honest, it was way more complicated than I expected. I already knew some of the rules, but actually trying to improve an article—especially one on a controversial topic—was pretty tough. I had to make sure I used reliable sources and wrote everything in a neutral way. I definitely learned a lot about how things work behind the scenes.

Interesting Discoveries

1.Historical Articles Are Highly Controversial

This week, I tried to edit an article about a historical event, but I quickly realized that these topics often spark heated debates. Different people interpret the same event in different ways based on their perspectives. For example, when I tried to add a new source, I found that previous editors had already debated this issue for a long time on the discussion page. In the end, I had to be extra careful with my wording to keep the content as neutral as possible.

2.Information Isn’t Always 100% Accurate

Before, I assumed that most Wikipedia articles were reliable, but this editing experience made me realize that some information is outdated or even incorrect. While researching, I noticed that some articles cited very old references or sources that weren’t authoritative. When making edits, I had to spend extra time finding newer, more reliable materials, which made me appreciate the importance of fact-checking.

3.Discussion Pages Matter More Than I Thought

I had never really paid attention to Wikipedia’s “Talk” pages before, but while editing, I discovered that they are actually where editors communicate and debate changes. Many edits are backed by long discussions—whether a certain word choice is appropriate, whether a specific event should be included, or even how to phrase a single sentence. Reading these discussions helped me understand what to watch out for when editing and taught me to check other people’s opinions before making changes.

Reflections

This week’s editing experience made me realize that while Wikipedia is an open platform, its content isn’t added randomly—every entry needs evidence, logical reasoning, and often, extensive discussions before it reaches its final form. Its openness is a great strength, but it also requires continuous monitoring and maintenance to ensure accuracy and fairness. This experience has made me more aware of the need to verify information when using Wikipedia, rather than blindly trusting everything I read

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Introduction to the blog

This blog is a digital forum where students from Collective Intelligence in Practice: Understanding Wikipedia at the Hanyang University in Korea (2025) will discuss their weekly readings and activities. Each week you are expected to post a blog post on our blog and make a comment on another student's post. You can do so on one of the following three topics: a) You can blog about the readings for the next week. As you are expected to do the assigned readings FOR the lectures they are assigned to, you are expected to post your blog and comments BEFORE that lecture. An ideal commentary should be about half a page in length (~200 words), divided into three clearly labeled sections in which you: 1) summarize in your own words of materials you read; 2) mention any new, interesting, or unusual items learned; 3) identify at least one question, concern, or discussion angle that is either problematic in some respect or could have been elaborated more. This question is likely to be incor...
Read more

Week 1. My Recent Wikipedia Edits - Jeong seolah (정설아)

I made several edits to the Wikipedia page for 'Daegu'.  Daegu, located in the southeastern part of South Korea, is the third-largest urban area in the country, following Seoul and Busan. With a population exceeding 2.3 million, it is the fourth-largest metropolitan city in South Korea and the second-largest in the Yeongnam region after Busan. Often referred to together with the surrounding North Gyeongsang Province as Daegu-Gyeongbuk, this region is home to over 5 million residents. Known for its rich history and vibrant economy, Daegu stands as a key player in South Korea's cultural and industrial landscape. Below is a summary of the changes I contributed. 1) Summarize and link Sights Section:  - Improved clarity by changing “mountains keep many traditional temples” to “the mountains keep many traditional temples.” Mosque Controversy Section:  - Simplified a sentence by removing “and of the authorities.” Festivals Section:  - Made phrasing smoother by changing “tho...
Read more

Week4 - Review about the readings for the next week. - Jo HyeonSeong (조현성)

 1. Summarize in my own words of materials. The book is primarily about the openness of Wikipedia. Openness means that anyone can participate in the creation and editing of articles without any qualifications. Openness can be a double-edged sword. While it means that you can edit without having expert knowledge of a topic, it also means that you can participate even if you have expert knowledge. For experts, articles written by non-experts can come across as inaccurate knowledge, which can anger experts. This anger can also be a catalyst for Wikipedia to continue to improve. However, articles edited only by non-experts can cause misunderstandings and convey incorrect information, so openness can be considered a double-edged sword. In fact, it sometimes causes some conflict, such as Wales' negative stance. Openness also means freedom from copyright, which means anyone can take it and use it anywhere. That is why the knowledge of non-experts can have greater impact. That is why appro...
Read more