Book contents
- Should You Believe Wikipedia?
- Should You Believe Wikipedia?
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Acknowledgments
- Introduction Design and Social Behavior
- 1 Are Online “Communities” Really Communities?
- 2 What Can Online Collaboration Accomplish?
- 3 Should You Believe Wikipedia?
- 4 How Does the Internet Change How We Think?
- 5 How Do People Express Identity Online, and Why Is This Important for Online Interaction?
- 6 What Is Bad Online Behavior, and What Can We Do About It?
- 7 How Do Business Models Shape Online Communities?
- 8 How Can We Help the Internet to Bring Out the Best in Us All?
- References
- Index
3 - Should You Believe Wikipedia?
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 13 January 2022
- Should You Believe Wikipedia?
- Should You Believe Wikipedia?
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Acknowledgments
- Introduction Design and Social Behavior
- 1 Are Online “Communities” Really Communities?
- 2 What Can Online Collaboration Accomplish?
- 3 Should You Believe Wikipedia?
- 4 How Does the Internet Change How We Think?
- 5 How Do People Express Identity Online, and Why Is This Important for Online Interaction?
- 6 What Is Bad Online Behavior, and What Can We Do About It?
- 7 How Do Business Models Shape Online Communities?
- 8 How Can We Help the Internet to Bring Out the Best in Us All?
- References
- Index
Summary
Building on ideas from epistemology, metaphysics, and social construction of knowledge, the chapter explores what it means to “know” something, and how good a job Wikipedia does at building knowledge. The argument is that “truth” exists (even if we only have indirect and unsure access to it). Knowledge is socially constructed. Social consensus is our best metric for what “is true,” but sometimes that consensus can be wrong.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Should You Believe Wikipedia?Online Communities and the Construction of Knowledge, pp. 64 - 90Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2022