You may have heard that @YouTube is going to start linking videos about conspiracies to @Wikipedia articles. Here's our statement about this, and a few words about how Wikipedia works.
Wikipedia is run by living, breathing humans who volunteer their time every day to add, curate, and maintain the world's largest encyclopedia. blog.wikimedia.org/c/communicatio…
On the English Wikipedia, they build and judge articles using an expansive set of policies and guidelines developed by the site's contributors, including three "core content policies" of verifiability, no original research, and neutral point of view. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia…
Have you see the @xkcd comic about the person in the crowd asking for citations? That’s how Wikipedia editors think about verifiability. xkcd.com/285/
Anyone adding material to Wikipedia needs to support that information with a citation—not unlike what you would find in an academic paper—if its verifiability might be challenged. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia…
In turn, these citations must refer to reliable sources: independent, third-party sources known for corroborating and confirming the stories they publish. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia…
The use of sources without such a reputation is heavily discouraged. Any remaining problematic content is often flagged with Wikipedia's infamous [citation needed] tag, helping readers identify and judge it for themselves.
These guidelines extend beyond sourcing—Wikipedia articles aim capture the whole scope of a topic, not just a slice. Having a neutral point of view means that Wikipedia editors strive to represent the significant views of reliable sources. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia…
Fringe theories may be mentioned, but only with the weight accorded to them in the reliable sources being cited. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia…
So let’s talk about conspiracy theories for a minute. Wikipedia has thousands of editors monitoring content—every day. Some of them have spent literally *years* combating conspiracies, pseudo-science, fringe theories, and more.
As @krmaher says, "The Wikipedia editors are often on the front lines of challenging conversations about truth and facts."
And community member @phoebe_ayers: "It's not polite to treat Wikipedia like an endlessly renewable resource with infinite free labor; what's the impact?"
Wikipedia is made possible by people—people just like you. Join them today, and give a little of your time to the sum of all knowledge. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia…
(Obligatory disclaimer: We, as in the Wikimedia Foundation, do not control content or make editorial decisions on Wikipedia. Articles are built and maintained by that vast community of volunteer editors.)
