How could I tell people about wikipedia without
sounding like a nerd? I'm
trying to replace people's Warcraft addictions with Wikipeida (after all,
which one is worse?) but everyone says, "That's so stupid! How are you
addicted to an encyclopedia? You're a nerd!". What do I do? Is it wrong to
try to get someone addicted to something?
Well, the question is, could they be useful contributors? I believe some
of them probably could, but you would have to know what their fields of
expertise are. If they care a lot about gaming, print out some of our
computer game related articles (we have quite a few) and tell them if they
would like to add something to that, they can do so easily.
But with anything you do, you will have to search out one-on-one
conversations. Trying to convince a group where peer pressure, alpha male
behavior etc. are involved is much harder than convincing a single
individual.
I think you will also have to learn to accept the fact that many of your
peers have been dulled by television, games and parental neglect and will
not be open towards intellectual pursuits. They have been trained for
instant gratification, and school is a perfect institution to dissuade
people from learning. That is not to say that you should not socialize
with these kids -- by all means do, but don't expect everyone to become a
Wikipedia editor.
Regards,
Erik