[WikiEN-l] Re: Problems with Susan Mason

[Sheldon Rampton]

Oliver Pereira wrote:

>My point is that Susan
>didn't use the word "racist", and the statement can be interpreted in
>other ways. This mailing list often seems to get into these "Chinese
>whispers" situations where people's positions get distorted, and I think
>we should all be sure to check our sources. We should be experts at that,
>working on an encyclopaedia project!

Oliver's observation highlights one of the things that I find 
interesting about Wikis as opposed to listservs. Both are open-ended 
enough that anyone can say anything (unless a moderator exists). 
However, the Wiki approach neatly eliminates the "Chinese whispers" 
problem. Instead of a serious of sequential responses (which 
inevitably either peter out or stray from the point of the original 
message), Wiki articles cumulatively refine the original message. The 
listserv approach tends to accumulate *lots* of information, whereas 
the wiki approach accumulates *better* information, with a presumably 
higher signal-to-noise ratio.

Has anyone done an analysis of Wikipedia from a game theory 
perspective? I'd be interested in seeing a good analysis of the way 
different "rules of the game" influence the content of various 
strategies for information-sharing such as listervs, newsgroups, etc.
-- 
--------------------------------
|  Sheldon Rampton
|  Editor, PR Watch (www.prwatch.org)
|  Author of books including:
|     Friends In Deed: The Story of US-Nicaragua Sister Cities
|     Toxic Sludge Is Good For You
|     Mad Cow USA
|     Trust Us, We're Experts
--------------------------------