[WikiEN-l] Wired: Wikipedia to Color Code Untrustworthy Text

[Keith Old]

Folks,

http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2009/08/wikitrust/

Wired reports:


*"Starting this fall, you’ll have a new reason to trust the information you
find on Wikipedia: An optional feature called “WikiTrust” will color code
every word of the encyclopedia based on the reliability of its author and
the length of time it has persisted on the page.*

*More than 60 million people visit the free, open-access encyclopedia each
month, searching for knowledge on 12 million pages in 260 languages. But
despite its popularity,
**Wikipedia*<http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2009/08/wikitrust/www.wikipedia.org>
* has long suffered criticism from those who say it’s not reliable. Because
anyone with an internet connection can contribute, the site is subject to
vandalism, bias and misinformation. And edits are anonymous, so there’s no
easy way to separate credible information from fake content created by
vandals.*

*Now, researchers from the **Wiki Lab* <http://trust.cse.ucsc.edu/>* at the
University of California, Santa Cruz have created a system to help users
know when to trust Wikipedia—and when to reach for that dusty Encyclopedia
Britannica on the shelf. Called
**WikiTrust*<http://wikitrust.soe.ucsc.edu/index.php/Main_Page>
*, the program assigns a color code to newly edited text using an algorithm
that calculates author reputation from the lifespan of their past
contributions. It’s based on a simple concept: The longer information
persists on the page, the more accurate it’s likely to be.*

*Text from questionable sources starts out with a bright orange background,
while text from trusted authors gets a lighter shade. As more people view
and edit the new text, it gradually gains more “trust” and turns from orange
to white."*

More in story

*Regards*

**

*Keith*