[WikiEN-l] Citizendium vs. Wikipedia

[David Gerard]

2009/4/21 Chet Hoover <chet.hoover at yahoo.com>:

> *This seriousness attracts Academics. Citizendium's slow growth is actually an incentive to serious-minded writers. It means the place is clear of the nutters and fans that Wikipedia has.


I suspect this is only because it's in its early days. Keep in mind:
when Clay Shirky wrote "A Group Is Its Own Worst Enemy", he used
Wikipedia as an example of somewhere that had *avoided* these
problems.

http://www.shirky.com/writings/group_enemy.html

As of 2009, Wikipedia looks like it's hit its head on every step on
the way down.

Larry's clearly read this essay. But remember: a group being its own
worst enemy is something every group complacently sleepwalks into.


> *Because real identities are used, less rules and guideline creep exists. It's more about the material.


It's not clear those have anything to do with each other. Instruction
creep is a problem in all organisations. See above re: complacency.


> *All the computer guys are at Wikipedia because they like the technical aspects of Wikipedia where you have to master a lingo and comply with MOS (don't ask!). These guys see everything in terms of percents anyhow, and don't have the kind of discerning mind that understands concepts and themes & etc. With them out of the way, you get a healthier bunch of writers who show up at Citizendium.


Thus resulting in spectacular successes like the Homeopathy article. *cough*


> Citizendium can just hang on, and stick around, because it's far less about its success over Wikipedia than it is about an environment in which serious-minded people with the werewithal can write about important subjects.


Citizendium sticking around would be much better than it not, and most
of the people involved are less bitter than Larry.


- d.