"Did you ever edit a Wikipedia page?" Topic

I was browsing some "Greece 1922" Wikipedia pages, which lead me to King George. This was on my cell phone. I clicked on a plume icon, and to my surprise it told me I was not logged on. If I proceeded to edit, my ISP would be displayed.

What?

I have read that anybody can edit Wikipedia but thought nothing of it until now.
So I guess I am qualified to edit a page on a king I knew pretty much nothing about.
How often does this REALLY happen?

Probably not that much on most topics. But very much on many controversial topics. Usually a outlandish edit will lead the initial creator of the page to edit it back out. Depending on the resistance this may lead to an edit war that will lock the article until the various groups hash out their differences.

Never editted a page, but had one deleted and the resulting conversation log was shall we say "very interesting" as it showed the mentality of the "editors" and their attitudes….

As I recall there was some overspill from a wargaming dispute that spilt over into Wikipedia. I can't remember if it was part of the Kiley/Hollins war or not.

More recently some vile allegations were posted about the late Charles Kennedy MP following his death last week. It is strongly suspected that it was done by SNP activists who objected to his opposition to the independence campaign.

I edited the X-men page once.

I've created and edited pages, but I usually don't unless I 1) know facts that aren't already reflected on the page or 2) spot some egregious error in grammar or syntax.

I used to edit quite a lot on WW 2 German divisions and sci-fantasy books for kids. But I gave it up over a year ago as I was tired of all the turf wars that go on with the full time editors.

Yes.

And I'm not saying which…!

John T

Once. An easily provable factual item. AFAIK, nobody had a problem with it.

YAH-56 Cheyenne

Some other minor edits.

For all of the … errr, "complaining" about Wikipedia from people who "know better," I really wish that they would mount a mass, sustained editing effort.

I've done some edits.

I've also stepped aside as ridiculous edit wars start. As much as wikipedia claims to be "open", there are some folks out there with elevated privileges, and their choices can be a little questionable.

I have done some editing.

I have read that anybody can edit Wikipedia but thought nothing of it until now.

Not completely true in the way it sounds. Overwhelmingly most people can edit overwhelmingly most pages. There are pages the editorial staff considers subject to "vandalism" that are locked and can only be edited by allowed people.

link

There is a core editorial staff and they monitor the editing, but not someone goes out and fact checks every edit every person puts in. That is left to the people who regularly visit or watch (get automatic notices of updates) for a page. By and large, the editors exert control over this process rather that directly over content.

And through this process, people get banned. Of course, the Internet is inherently anonymous, so it is pretty easy to try to sneak back in. Then again, that is a well known fact, so savvy editors can block several ways of sneaking back in. Especially the ones used by novices.

So I guess I am qualified to edit a page on a king I knew pretty much nothing about.

The presumption about allowing editing is not that you are qualified, but that you adhere to Wheaton's Law. If that is demonstrated not to be so, the situation is handled as mentioned above.

How often does this REALLY happen?

If you mean how often does some random person post some tripe they should have, the raw numbers are not tracked, but I would guess about 100.05% of the times it is corrected within a few minutes.

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So, here's the upshot. Next time that somebody complains loudly that anybody can edit any page in Wikipedia and put anything they want in it offer to bet them $100.00 USD that they are not right. For this type of person, it is best to get their assertion in writing. Then go to Wikipedia and search POTUS. Say, "Go ahead. Edit." The President of the United States is one of those pages which is protected, as are a lot of other sitting political persons and recent past ones.