gsandler writes “
Here is a News.com
story about a fictitious post on Wikipedia.
“Fans of Wikipedia, an online encyclopedia that is written and edited by a Web-based community, noticed something amiss recently. Articles about boy-band singer Jamie Kane and his band were recently posted. The only problem? Kane and his band, Boy*d Upp, don’t exist.
Kane is the fictional creation of the BBC. The character, who supposedly died in a helicopter crash, is part of an interactive game that asks players to solve the mystery surrounding his death.”
“
Not gospel truth
Another reason why you take everything on the Internet as gospel truth. You have to check it out, and cross-check it. This goes the same with books. You have to use multiple sources.
Re:Not gospel truth
Please note that it took the Wikipedia community only 7 hours to discover the article and begin rehabilitating it by highlighting its fictive nature. And in about two and a half days, there was a full explanation of the “viral marketing” nature of the original article and its putative subject.
Wikipedia, by it’s very nature, embodies multiple sources. Sure, it would be foolish to claim that it will *never* succumb to pranks or scams, but the many-eyes nature of the medium has worked quite well so far to neuter any previous attempts at spiking.