Friday, July 29, 2016
Wikipedia
Something I found to be quite interesting in Here Comes Everybody by Clay Shirky was when Shirky talks about the formation of Wikipedia and how it grew to be as large as it is now. Through group collaboration, thousands upon thousands of articles were created on a site that everyone is free to participate in. What makes it appealing to the average person is that they do not have to be an expert in the matter to contribute. Others can look over what you write and edit it to see fit to eventually establish an article that is satisfactory. While I still would never use Wikipedia as a source for anything school related, I still think that the site is fairly useful for smaller things like checking the birth date of a certain actor or the release date of a product. The thing I like the most is how it brought so many people together to create something big. Those who contribute take pride in what they do and get upset when the pages get vandalized as a prank. Wikipedia is just one of the many examples Shirky gives where people who don't even know each other come together to do something with meaning, and it's all thanks to the ever growing internet that we can connect with one another easier than ever.
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I agree with your post, and I liked how you used Wikipedia as an example that demonstrates how the internet makes it easier to connect with each other and bring ideas together. Another example that can be used is the AP English Language Blog. On the blog we post to discuss different topics based on our summer assignment and we give our opinion on it by commenting. Therefore, by doing this we are essentially bringing up new ideas by giving our different point of view on a post. We are also connected with each other thanks to the internet.
ReplyDeleteI agree with your post since I to use Wikipedia for some sources of information but of course on the little things like where someone was born or when they have past away.
ReplyDeleteHow so many people came together to create Wikipedia is an amazing thing to me as well. Just the idea that the internet can bring people closer gets me thinking how far we have come in making technological advancements. If people can come together to make something as simple as a website become so huge, think about what can get accomplished if more people work together.
ReplyDeleteAlthough I did not read the same birthday book, i found this post to be very interesting as it is quite amazing to see what people were able to create when working together. While Wikipedia might not be the best source for crucial information, it is the potential that it carries which is great.
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