Much to the chagrin of teachers everywhere, Wikipedia has become one of the most used websites. It contains millions upon millions of articles. But can such a website be sustainable? Is it impervious to misinformation attacks? The documentary The Wikipedia Promise seeks to address these issues.
The site averages over 300 million clicks per day, and is often cited in arguments, academic papers, and various other instances. But can it be trusted as a valid source? Featuring interviews with various authors across the globe, as well as site co-founders Jimmy Wales and Larry Sanger, you don’t truly ever get a sense of whether the site can be trusted at all.
The film does well to trace the origins of the site, as it democratized the spread of knowledge. Anyone could create an account and upload and edit information, not just an elite group of people. However, this also creates problems. Anyone could upload information. This doesn’t necessarily mean the information has to be accurate or unbiased. The documentary details how susceptible the website is to misinformation attacks. If anyone could upload information, what’s to stop people from willfully misleading users? And who can even regulate this when it does occur, given the millions of users on the site?
You’re left to wonder at the state of the site (including “ex-founder” Larry Sanger essentially disowning the modernization of the site). We may all use Wikipedia today. But can we trust it? The film would work well as an educational resource for those interested in information literacy, and in academic libraries for students studying current events as well as Internet trends.