Re:The Hofmann Wobble: Wikipedia and the problem of historic...
by resolutebat on Saturday December 23, 2023 @02:58PM
(#38747568)
The story is set in the early days of Wikipedia, when awareness of its power and restraints on manipulation were much weaker.
As a wiki admin myself, what I found unbelievable is the length to which they supposedly went to maintain the subterfuge. Most sock puppets and PR flacks are glaringly obvious.
Re:The Hofmann Wobble: Wikipedia and the problem of historic...
by pvg on Saturday December 23, 2023 @02:33PM
(#38747338)
Careful, you keep adding this sort of detail and maybe take out some of the bombast ('insufferable', 'obnoxiously') and next thing you know, you'd end up with a perfectly reasonable personal critique of this thing!
People try to manipulate wikipedia in this fashion every day. Many of those who do are much much more sophisticated than the protagonist in this story and the story doesn't take into account the checks & balances to prevent this sort of thing. Perhaps that's just the conceit for the story and we are supposed to accept it so that the rest of the story can take place. However stories about individuals getting ultimate power and then struggling with the moral implications of that are a dime a dozen. The only unique thing about this story is the premise, which i find obnoxiously simplified.