What policies could wikis enforce that could garner more confidence from the public?

Answer 1

Well, the biggest thing that would boost confidence, unfortunately, is to give up our wiki-ness. :) People love it when only experts are allowed to touch things and no random people can help out or edit. But... that is the very reason why we succeed, and why this is such a great place to be. Because it is hobbyists and amateurs and just people trying to research and help each other. I think some people catch that vision and ideal, and others just don't.

There are some policies that we could enforce that would garner more confidence, that wouldn't make us a non-wiki. We could have a very high age limit... like no one under 18. We could make people fill out a paragraph about why they know what they are talking about. We could automatically block anyone who did something wrong once. ... Unfortunately, a lot of those things would hurt us too. I've seen a lot of people come to this site, make bad mistakes, and then catch the vision and totally turn around. I know kids... 13 or 14 year olds who write brilliant, well-researched answers. And ultimately, any barrier to entry prevents some people from coming here who would really, really help. And we need all the help we can get. This site is all about the volunteer community, and about regular people helping each other and making a great place to be, together. Sometimes people disturb that community and have to be blocked after we find that out, but for the most part, we don't want to prevent people from coming in the first place.

The very nature of wikis means that they will garner less confidence... and they should. The information here is less certain that something in a peer-reviewed journal or from a library, or a reporter who checks his or her sources... typically. Some of that is bad too. And some of what we have here is brilliant, insightful, and clever. :) And it would never be here if we weren't a wiki... if we didn't have a community and people didn't flock together to help each other.

I want the public to double-check what we say on this site. It's smart to do that... and it would also be really amazing if, after you find a mistake, you would come back and add what you know here... so that you are helping the next person. ... That's what we're about. Always helping the next person to have a better experience, to know more, and to get answers.

Answer 2

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