Longtime readers, listeners, and viewers of my humble communique may recall my fued with wikipedia. For those who don’t remember, use the search box; but basically I got banned from touching information on my own life and work, and then the entry about this blog and related activities was completely deleted. Course, then came the podcast with the editor from wikipedia where we officially learned that they do alot of picking and choosing about what IS important and what ISNT.
I decided it didn’t matter. I like wikipedia for some information, and I don’t like it for other things. I figured life would go on this way, but they’ve shown more signs of poor judgement. Read Tony Pierce’s experience; a man who has been blogging and blogging hard, forever. He’s had aventures, and all sorts of trials and tribulations, he has groupies, and all sorts of run-ins with trouble, but somehow wikipedia decided he’s no good and they’ve banned him too, I think. (update: madge weinstein is on their target list as well!?!)
I went back to look at what happens when you use my name as BM or simply my fullname, and what comes up. It seems, apart from having been part of Bandits of the Acoustic Revolution, more of my past projects have been deleted, including the big entry that was up for over 3 years about One Cool Guy, a once beloved third wave ska band from New Jersey.
This bothers me not only because it is about me, though I will confess to being too nascisitic with this stuff.. but hell.. I am a blogger. But what really bothers me is being erased. I can’t remember half the stories that were compiled in those entries, and with my birthday coming up on Sunday, I’m sure to forget lots of the small details that are so fun and interesting to have recorded and reported on the internet. I can imagine others will suffer the same fate, because this hugely popular and highly useful site is so plagued with counterproductive rules and incompetant editors.
What do to? Many will say — dont use it! And I like the idea, but Ill still use it.. its much too handy for some things.
I am interested in an alternative. So i googled… alternative to wikipedia. And what do you know… I present to you.. Citizendium! Odd title. yes. And yes.. it isn’t quite ready. But it has some important differences, I think. Actually I still don’t know what to think. But Im ready to sign up to participate in the pilot project. In their founding text it states:
we want to create a responsible community and a good global citizen.
Sounds like my kind of project.