On Wikipedia, Debating 2008 Hopefuls' Every Facet

["Richard M. Smith" <rms () computerbytesman com>]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/09/16/AR2007091601
699.html?hpid=topnews

On Wikipedia, Debating 2008 Hopefuls' Every Facet





By  <http://projects.washingtonpost.com/staff/email/jose+antonio+vargas/>
Jose Antonio Vargas
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, September 17, 2007; Page A01 


On  <http://projects.washingtonpost.com/congress/members/m000303/> Sen. John
McCain's Wikipedia entry, the argument has been over whether he is a
conservative, moderate or liberal Republican. A heated exchange on former
senator John Edwards's page has centered on deleting any reference to his
$400 haircuts. And perhaps the most contentious dispute of all -- at least
last week -- was over
<http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/related/topic/Fred+Thompson+(Politician)?
tid=informline> Fred Thompson's proper name: Is it Freddie, the name he was
born with? Or Fred, as he's called now?

" 'Freddie' makes Thompson sound ridiculous," a user argued. "It's not about
making Thompson look silly," another responded. "It's about having accurate
information."

On Wikipedia.org, the write-it-yourself encyclopedia, everyone can be an
editor, and every day thousands of them are engaging in fierce battles over
the life stories of the 2008 presidential candidates.

Many of those battles, so far, are over relatively small biographical
details, but the stakes are high:
<http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/related/topic/Wikimedia+Foundation+Inc.?t
id=informline> Wikipedia is one of the 10 most visited Web sites, drawing 6
billion page views a month, according to the Web rating service Alexa. Type
a candidate's name into
<http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/related/topic/Google+Inc.?tid=informline>
Google, and among the first results is a Wikipedia page, making those
entries arguably as important as any ad in defining a candidate. Already,
the presidential entries are being edited, dissected and debated countless
times each day.

...

 

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