Wikipedia

Wikipedia, an emerging space filled with copious amounts of knowledge
Well I’ve reached my third blog and I’m feeling good. I’m slowly getting used to discussing the unit themes of KCB201 and this week I’ll be discussing the wonders of Wikipedia. I am also watching television, but the brilliant thing about TV is that you can use the add breaks of your favorite show to do Uni work . Although I’m not really watching anything on TV, I actually just enjoy a little bit of background noise.

Ok, that’s enough jabbering about TV, now I will jabber on about Wikipedia. Wikipedia is an emerging knowledge space. Wikipedia is an open, collaborative space, where people can create, collaborate, and produce information and knowledge within a web 2.0 format. Wikipedia is the most successful online encyclopedia. However Wikipedia is not your standard traditional encyclopedia, the key difference being the ability for users to create knowledge and information. Anyone can edit and create pages on Wikipedia.

This key aspect of Wikipedia has created a entrenched criticism of Wikipedia. Its reliability and credibility is constantly criticized and it if you were to ever reference Wikipedia on a university essay it would definitely come back with an ‘F’ plastered all over it. But is Wikipedia really that bad. I personally find Wikipedia very useful. As I study law, I am given cases to read every week. Before I read the case I give a quick search on Wiki, most of the time someone has written about the case, there is a brief outline of the facts and what the outcome was. It isn’t in-depth, however I can understand it and it gives me the basic understanding of the topic which I then use as I research more thoroughly.

So is the information on Wikipedia wrong or right and who knows. Most of the time I find Wikipedia objective and factual, I do agree it shouldn’t be used in academic writing, but I think it is a useful knowledge base and that it is credible. It could be argued that it is more credible than that of an article written by an academic, Wikipedia entries go through the most rigorous editing, we edit them. Imagine if you gave an essay on World War II to everybody with access to the internet to check before you handed it in. It would receive the most intense editing and criticism this is what happens on Wikipedia. Entries are edited and changed constantly. The truth is being constantly questioned; this idea demonstrates how credible Wikipedia can be.
Although I do acknowledge that this is an optimistic and somewhat utopian ideal of Wikipedia and in many cases the content of an article can be completely incorrect and fabricated. This is the problem with Wikipedia it has such potential to be an infinite source of objective knowledge but this is impossible with humans as our minds are all completely different and our thoughts and opinions will always be slightly different from others. What is the truth to some isn’t to others.

I like how Wikipedia as a form of new media as brought up philosophical questions about what is the truth, of subjectivity of objectivity, of the meaning of knowledge.

Citizen Journalism

I thought this YouTube video was a great way to start a blog about Citizen Journalism, so check it out!
Now lets talk Citizen Journalism!

Citizen Journalism allows anyone with access a computer and the internet to be a journalist. Citizen Journalism is like a paddock without a fence where cows can walk right in from anywhere they please, and shit wherever they like. I know a little extreme simile but hey this is a blog right, lets go crazy! And I think you can get the idea, it’s open, it accessible, people can jump on the net and write about their son’s soccer game or how they feel about the recent swine flu outbreak. Personally I think it’s aporkalyptic!

Ok maybe it’s time to get a little more serious this is a blog for university! so what really is Citizen Journalism, Citizen Journalism is effectively the idea that users can use the web to report on news and current affairs. Everyday people can use the internet to contribute themselves to the world around them. This has come about as a result of web 2.0. Web 2.0 is the name given to what I see as the interactive internet. Where people can collaborate, contribute and network within online communities.

Citizen Journalism can best be looked at through it’s examples ohmynews is a South Koren website established in 2000 and it’s slogan is ‘ever citizen is a reporter’ another example is the website youth noise. Youth Noise is a website for young citizen journalists it provides young people with the ability to contribute to online debates, forums and blogs and is a prime example of citizen journalism.
Alright so there’s the basic gist of what CJ is, now what impact is Citizen Journalism having on society? It is impossible to discuss every impact that citizen journalism has on society, however one impact of particular interest to me and which is discussed by Terry Flew in his book New Media: An Introduction, is the idea that Citizen Journalism allows for new ideas and opinions to be expressed within state-controlled media countries. Flew uses the example of Indonesia, Flew suggests that there is a relationship between the rise of the internet and the gradual democratization of Indonesian politics and society. Flew suggests that the internet namely Citizen Journalism has been embraced as a method by political activists and reformers, becoming a vital factor of commentary on elections and political affairs within Indonesia since the first free elections in 1999. This has allowed for democracy to develop within Indonesian society. The ability to post news and information onto the web which would otherwise not make it onto news within such countries allows for a sense of egalitarianism to develop. Although this is a brief outline of only one specific impact Citizen Journalism has on societies, it does provide a basic idea that Citizen Journalism is in a sense a BIG DEAL, it is a social trend which is question the role of traditional journalism, it is effecting societies and invoking debate.

Citizen Journalism breaks down the gates of media control and allows anyone to be a journalist and express their opinions whether this is a good thing or not is a question I’m sure philosophers, academics and citizen journalists themselves will discuss for many years to come.