On Sun, Aug 30, 2009 at 7:31 PM, Brian <[email protected]> wrote:
> > > On Sun, Aug 30, 2009 at 6:24 PM, Keith Old <[email protected]> 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* >> > > > What's interesting about WikiTrust is that a trust score is computed for > each individual. I wonder if these will be made public, and if so, how they > will change the community of editors. It seems likely that they will not be > made public. However, since the algorithm is published and I believe the > source code as well anyone with the hardware could compute and publish how > trusted each community member is. > Or perhaps it is a reputation score - my memory is fuzzy. _______________________________________________ WikiEN-l mailing list [email protected] To unsubscribe from this mailing list, visit: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikien-l
