canihasaccount@lemmy.world 6 days ago
A problem with Wikipedia is that experts are not allowed to contribute to their areas of expertise because they’re “biased”. I know a professor at a top university who used to spend his free time editing Wikipedia outside of his specific area but in his broad area of expertise as a method of disseminating science knowledge to the public. When the higher-up Wikipedia editors found out who he was, they banned his account and IP from editing.
Having the lay public write articles works when expertise isn’t required to understand something, but much of Wikipedia around science is slightly inaccurate at best.
Wikipedia still recommends against primary sources as authoritative sources of information (recommending secondary sources instead), which is not great.
Indeed, Wikipedia should cite Trump and Musk on the actions and views of Trump and Musk, because who would know better about them than Trump and Musk.
deegeese@sopuli.xyz 6 days ago
Can you share the author/topic?
Wikipedia welcomes expert contributors, but people editing articles about themselves is a big no-no. You’re also not allowed to do promotion of your pet theories, even if you’re “expert”.
canihasaccount@lemmy.world 6 days ago
Things appear to have changed; thanks for drawing my attention to that. I may start editing some articles in my broader area.
canihasaccount@lemmy.world 6 days ago
I can’t without doxxing myself more than I’d like. It wasn’t an article about himself, nor his research. This was about 10 years ago, so the rules may have changed. I’ll take a look and edit my post accordingly if so.