Jimbo Wales: No one can make money from Wikipedia...

A longtime Wikipedia admin has been caught editing the online encyclopedia in exchange for cash. But the Wikicult can't decide if that's a problem. Earlier this week, someone noticed a post to an online job marketplace where an entrenched Wikifiddler was advertising his Wikiservices. "Besides technical writing, I also am an …

[Charles Manning]

Just redefine "vow"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vows

Have fun kids.

[OkKTY8KK5U]

Credibility?

Wikipedia's credibility took a hit? With whom, the Kool-aid-drunk fans incapable of comprehending how Wikipedia could be anything less than awesome; the halfway intelligent ones who already figured that everything on the site should be presumed dodgy until demonstrated otherwise; or the rest of the masses, to whom Internet Explorer is "the internet" and who probably haven't noticed any of this?

Don't get me wrong, I enjoy reading about Wikipedia's hilarious Wikipolitics (including the rest of this article), and the above really sounds snarkier than I wanted it to... but I figure Wikipedia's credibility is firmly wedged at either "yes," "no," or "huh?" depending on the demographic, and wouldn't budge for anything.

[easyk]

koolaide

Just a note that "kool aide drunk" makes no sense. It is a perversion of the "drink Kool Aid" which is a rather obscene reference to the unfortuanate episode when cult leader Jim Jones made his followers, mostly at gun piont, drink poison ( that contained zero percent kool aid ). Many people died. No one got the least bit drunk.

Anyway its overused and tiresome. Come up with something new for once in your life.

[The Original Ash]

Just goes to show...

... It's not just in politics where altruism is overcome by greed and misguided power-grabbing.

"Hey, Wikipedia policy can only be changed by group concensus!" becomes "Wikipedia policy is created and maintained by me. You can all go screw each other."

I'd quit and leave him to admin the site by himself. See how long he lasts. I'm sure Enc. Brit. would be more than thankful for the returning business.

[Anonymous Coward]

Too-shy-shy, hush-hush etc

Has the Wikipedia user in question been blocked?

[kissingthecarpet]

@easyk -Think you're wrong about the Kool-aid reference

Surely the Kool-Aid thing is a reference to US GOP meetings where Kool-Aid was served, i.e if you drank the KoolAid you were a Cheney-sucker or Bush rimmer. ( Also any ref to Kool aid is more likely to refer to the "Kool-Aid Acid Tests" performed by the Grateful Dead et al. & immortalised by TomWolfe in the book called "The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test".

[Jerome 0]

Public speaking?

Whilst I wouldn't dream of defending Wales on most matters, I fail to see the relevance of his speaking engagements here. In what way is accepting money for speaking in public about Wikipedia going to damage its neutrality? Contrast this to accepting money from a person or company for editing Wikipedia to serve their interests. No comparison.

[David Kesterson]

@kissingthecarpet

easyk is exactly right. Urban Dictionary cites Jim Jones and the massacre in Guyana as principal reference for "drink the Kool-Aid. I remember when it happened. And...get over Bush and Cheney - you'll be crying for them in your sleep before BHO is done with you.

[The First Dave]

Corporate Use

So if a large corporate, such as say Nike or Coca-Cola ask one of their PR people to amend some matters of fact that appear on Wiki, then that is not going to be allowed? Clearly they are getting paid for doing so.

If Jimbo is correct about the community being able to self-police, then it should not matter whether someone is posting propaganda for monetary reward, or just from personal belief.

[Eddy Ito]

Bravo! Gripping, Sensational

Says the Bahst'n Glob.*

Simply a wonderful and moving tale. I laughed, I cried, but mostly I laughed. Can't have too many stories like this.

*For those not blessed with Massachusetts politics, that is proper local pronunciation of Boston Globe although some locals would argue the last bit should be Glahb.

[Anonymous Coward]

The truth about kool-aid

It was an aid concert in the late 80's for kids who weren't "kool" - it says so on Wikipedia (well, give me 5 minutes and it will ;-)

[kissingthecarpet]

@David kesterton

I wouldn't use the Urban dictionary for citations if I were you(unless it was meant as a joke). Its full of definitions put in by teenagers to wind each other up( e.g a word is defined as meaning "<some bloke at school I don't like> is so gay" etc etc)

Also seeing as I'm from Yerp any US pol who is more pro-Europe & its values is OK by me.Bush doesn't even know where Europe is, and surely Cheney scared everyone, even GOP fanbois.

The Jim Jones thing doesn't make sense as a metaphor anyway, does it?

Wikipedia is great for non-controversial subjects like Maths & Comp sci, but shit for anything where objectivity is difficult to achieve.

[Aidan Thornton]

Why drinking the Kool-Aid?

Yep, the phrase "drinking the Kool-Aid" does come from Jim Jones' cult (the People's Temple). He got his followers to commit mass suicide by drinking a Kool-Aid clone to which posion had been added. (He'd also done at least one dry run before this, in which he pretended it was poisioned, as a loyalty test). The reason for the phrase should be obvious - it suggests the person is such a dogmatic follower that they'd do something they thought would kill themselves if it was what the other followers were doing.

[BioTube]

About that Jool-Aid

It was really Flavor Aid.