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

[Nathan Russell]

I'll just say I'm a bit surprised to be hearing it from Wired first.

Pakaran

On Sun, Aug 30, 2009 at 8:24 PM, Keith Old<keithold at gmail.com> wrote:
> 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*
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