When you want to find out about someone or some incident or some information, the norm was using a search browser and landing on Wikipedia. Wikipedia is a free online encyclopedia, wherein pages of information are created and edited by volunteers around the world. Wikipedia is hosted by the Wikimedia Foundation.
And after changing X, formerly known as Twitter, to align with his ambitions, SpaceX founder and Tesla CEO Elon Musk humorously suggested he would give Wikipedia a billion dollars, if it changed its name to something slightly juvenile.
This came after Musk’s examination that anyone could update Wikipedia articles, though it might be a surface-level analysis. That being said, Musk’s analysis drew the attention of Vijay Shekhar Sharma. Vijay Shekhar Sharma is an Indian tech entrepreneur who is the founder and MD of One97 Communications and its consumer brand Paytm. Vijay Shekhar Sharma proposed that Elon Musk should create a “Wiki-equivalent reference point destination”.
This could be a place where people come to find information, share knowledge and add information on different topics. This would be by using the Community Notes feature that’s available on X. On X, Community Notes allow people to collaboratively add context or nuance to potentially misleading posts. So, the idea is to use X to build a community-driven reference resource. This could be open for everyone on the web.
And what’s the difference between Community Notes and Wikipedia? According to Musk, Wikipedia is inherently hierarchical and subject to the biases of higher-ranking editors. Musk has said he can’t influence the outcome of a Community Note the way one could edit a Wikipedia article. That being said, on Community Notes, people with diverse viewpoints, based on ratings and notes, may collaborate to create a consensus that would be released to the public. But, there could be completely unvetted fact-checkers. It may not mean that different views may not all be correct.
On the other hand, it’s said that while Wikipedia’s articles could be changed by anyone, there have to be citations from trusted and verifiable news sources. Community Notes may reflect the idea that people may care more about the popularity of the idea, than the credibility of the opinion, which could be worrying at a time when misinformation is on the rise.
