WikiScanner is taking the press by storm. Two calls today from the BBC and one from The Independent. The line I took:
- We’ve had conflicted editing since the beginning, and companies getting caught out. This is just another example. We’ve told people over and over, and now this is hitting the press and the general public are up in arms about it.
- The almost-complete edit history of Wikipedia has always been available — click on the “history” tab. And people have been caught with it before. This is another approach to the same thing.
- We don’t try to nail companies on it, because we appreciate they sometimes just don’t know how to approach us. We don’t want people scared to talk to us.
- The best way to deal with problems in your entry is to be completely honest and open about who you are and why you’re there. In general, getting caught out being less than utterly honest online will get you eaten alive.
- If something’s dangerous or slanderous, of course, contact the Foundation and you can be sure it’ll be looked at seriously and quickly.
So I’m on BBC Radio 5 Live on Wake up To Money tomorrow morning around 5:55am. (There’s an MP3 podcast of it.) The things I do for Wikipedia … They got Virgil Griffiths, who wrote WikiScanner, to comment as well. Should be interesting.
By the way: I told you so.
Update: One quote! I got up at 5:45am for one quote! Mind you, I did start to waffle. MP3, 20:25 to 23:24. Pretty good.