magical power of trust
According to an Ars Technica story, the German-language version of Wikipedia has implemented a reputation system where edits made by ordinary users don’t go live until approved by users who have gained certain reputation level. This seems like an inevitable and welcome change for the English version, based on what I’ve seen on sites like Slashdot, it could also introduce new problems.
One potential problem I forsee is that adding another layer of adminstration to the encyclopedia could create the perception that Wikipedia privileges the points-of-view of the established user base – and to get this reputation level, users need to conform to the tacit expectations of existing adminstrators. On Slashdot, this is borne out in discussions about how comments that confirm the worldview of Slashdot’s adminstrators and moderators are modded up, while comments they disagree with are modded down. While Jimmy Wales has said that he wants to avoid a formal reputation system like Slashdot’s, which is based on moderation points, the issue of how regular users attain the status to approve edits remains. The article simply describes this status as a “registered user with a certain level of time and experience.” It’s not clear if it’s based on quantifiable characteristics, but Wikipedia’s current system for creating adminstrators relies on a nomination and consensus process.
I don’t have the time to dig through and try to translate the policies on the German version, but I wonder how these users assigned this privilege and how the reputation is contstructed. Moreover, I wonder about how these privileges intersect with other Wikipedia policies, like the vaunted Neutral Point of View policy. Does a user with approval privileges have the obligation to approve edits that he or she disagrees with? NPOV debates already rage across the encyclopedia. If edits are approved in a non-neutral way – or the perception exists that they’re approved in a non-neutral way – implementing this internal reputation system might harm the reputation of Wikipedia with the general public.
