[WikiEN-l] Announcing "Epistemia", a new wiki encyclopedia

[Thomas Larsen]

Hi David,

> Citizendium has a community of writers and appears to be ticking along okay.
>
> Unfortunately, more than a few appear to be driven by resentment of
> Wikipedia, and by far the most effective method of getting publicity
> so far has been to bitch about Wikpedia (the "let's you and him fight"
> story is one beloved of lazy journalists everywhere) - which makes CZ
> look less than classy (less classy than it is).
>
> Epistemia, from the description, appears to be yet another thing in
> the same space. What's the differentiator from Citizendium?

I'm working on a FAQ at the moment. You can see the current version
(which is a real draft) at
http://en.epistemia.org/wiki/Epistemia:Frequently_asked_questions.
Basically, my notes (which need to be expanded upon) are that
Citizendium:

* is overly restrictive;
* is not very dynamic or global;
* has failed to gain significant public support, after over two years
of operation;
* has not been growing exponentially; instead, growth is a "straight line";
* alienates people by requiring all contributors to use their real names; and
* is a knee-jerk reaction to Wikipedia.

Epistemia basically addresses these problems by being unbureaucratic,
having a low barrier to entry, and being more globally-orientated.

—Thomas Larsen