[WikiEN-l] Is editing for payment a fundamentally problematic conflict of interest?

[Marc Riddell]

on 3/5/07 10:59 AM, William Pietri at william at scissor.com wrote:

> Down the line, I think we'll run of gas some with we hobbyists. Not that
> we won't get and use a ton of that, just that the quality level and
> topic focus will leave gaps that will become more and more obvious. I
> think the step over that will either be through advertising on Wikipedia
> or through large donations from tech billionaires creating an endowment.
> Either one will result in the Foundation hiring people full time to work
> on the content. This will expand the caste system in a way that will
> involve much wailing and gnashing of teeth in the community, but people
> will eventually get over it because it will actually make the
> encyclopedia better.

This is very much the way a hospital functions: A combination of paid staff
and volunteers working together to accomplish the same goal - the best
patient care possible. How these two groups get along in there interactions
is what a culture is all about. Acceptance of this culture requires maturity
on the part of the individual participants - and care and nurturing by all.

Marc