"ICorrect", a new website that calls itself "the first website to correct permanently any lies, misinformation and misrepresentations that permeate in cyberspace", explains its raison d'être as follows: "So far, the likes of Wikipedia and Google searches consist entirely of hearsays. ICorrect uniquely provides 'words from the horses mouth'." Founded by Hong Kong businessman and socialite David Tang, it allows people and companies to permanently host correction statements they wish to make (after verifying their identity), for an annual membership fee of US $1,000 for individuals and US $5,000 for companies ( a few days earlier, the individuals' price was reported as US $1,500). A blog post from The Daily Telegraph commented sarcastically: "Sir David’s absolute masterstroke is that he’s charging his pals $1,000 a year for the right to use the site. Wiki-ching! So that’s how you get rich." Tang's own corrections include The Mail on Sunday's claim that "David Tang is a creep": "This is greatly exaggerated".
At the time of writing, the majority of the listed corrections appear to concern tabloids and other traditional media, and impersonations on Twitter and Facebook. One of the complaints concerning Wikipedia was made by John Bond (currently chairman of Vodafone, prompting a blogger to mock him as " the man who paid £600 to edit his Wikipedia entry", pointing out that the article was freely editable and that the mistakes stated by Bond hadn't even been fixed yet - User:Whitepaw did so later, citing Bond's ICorrect statement as a reference. Likewise, the articles about Eugene Shvidler [1] and Anouska Hempel [2] [3] have already been changed according to their complaints, while the correction filed by Hempel's husband Mark Weinberg does not seem to have had an effect yet. Andrew Knight (director of News Corporation) filed a tongue-in-cheek " correction" stating: "My Wikipedia entry is anodyne and largely accurate. ... Never mind, let's keep it that way".
Questioned in an interview on Sky News about how ICorrect.com would avoid spreading libel and misinformation itself, Tang admitted that the site "does not set out to police the veracity of people's corrections - we are not in a position to do that".
Last month, the Association for Psychological Science followed up on a call to its members to edit Wikipedia from December with a more detailed call to action, involving its own online platform for the "APS Wikipedia Initiative". Informed by discussions with the Wikimedia Foundation, it aims to "provide the smoothest possible entry into the process of creating and editing Wikipedia articles". One suggestion is for professors to include the writing of Wikipedia articles in their coursework, similar to the model of the Foundation's Public Policy Initiative. The association "will recognize exceptional contributions and the articles that have improved because of APSWI volunteerism". One blogger voiced concern "that by calling 'experts' to systematically create and update Wikipedia entries, we run the risk of spilling academic debates into a different forum that lacks the checks and balances in academia." See also Signpost coverage of a similar call from the American Psychological Association, likewise issued in December.
Note: Partly due to the events in Japan, this week's "WikiProject Report", which was scheduled to feature WikiProject Japan, has been postponed.
"ICorrect", a new website that calls itself "the first website to correct permanently any lies, misinformation and misrepresentations that permeate in cyberspace", explains its raison d'être as follows: "So far, the likes of Wikipedia and Google searches consist entirely of hearsays. ICorrect uniquely provides 'words from the horses mouth'." Founded by Hong Kong businessman and socialite David Tang, it allows people and companies to permanently host correction statements they wish to make (after verifying their identity), for an annual membership fee of US $1,000 for individuals and US $5,000 for companies ( a few days earlier, the individuals' price was reported as US $1,500). A blog post from The Daily Telegraph commented sarcastically: "Sir David’s absolute masterstroke is that he’s charging his pals $1,000 a year for the right to use the site. Wiki-ching! So that’s how you get rich." Tang's own corrections include The Mail on Sunday's claim that "David Tang is a creep": "This is greatly exaggerated".
At the time of writing, the majority of the listed corrections appear to concern tabloids and other traditional media, and impersonations on Twitter and Facebook. One of the complaints concerning Wikipedia was made by John Bond (currently chairman of Vodafone, prompting a blogger to mock him as " the man who paid £600 to edit his Wikipedia entry", pointing out that the article was freely editable and that the mistakes stated by Bond hadn't even been fixed yet - User:Whitepaw did so later, citing Bond's ICorrect statement as a reference. Likewise, the articles about Eugene Shvidler [1] and Anouska Hempel [2] [3] have already been changed according to their complaints, while the correction filed by Hempel's husband Mark Weinberg does not seem to have had an effect yet. Andrew Knight (director of News Corporation) filed a tongue-in-cheek " correction" stating: "My Wikipedia entry is anodyne and largely accurate. ... Never mind, let's keep it that way".
Questioned in an interview on Sky News about how ICorrect.com would avoid spreading libel and misinformation itself, Tang admitted that the site "does not set out to police the veracity of people's corrections - we are not in a position to do that".
Last month, the Association for Psychological Science followed up on a call to its members to edit Wikipedia from December with a more detailed call to action, involving its own online platform for the "APS Wikipedia Initiative". Informed by discussions with the Wikimedia Foundation, it aims to "provide the smoothest possible entry into the process of creating and editing Wikipedia articles". One suggestion is for professors to include the writing of Wikipedia articles in their coursework, similar to the model of the Foundation's Public Policy Initiative. The association "will recognize exceptional contributions and the articles that have improved because of APSWI volunteerism". One blogger voiced concern "that by calling 'experts' to systematically create and update Wikipedia entries, we run the risk of spilling academic debates into a different forum that lacks the checks and balances in academia." See also Signpost coverage of a similar call from the American Psychological Association, likewise issued in December.
Note: Partly due to the events in Japan, this week's "WikiProject Report", which was scheduled to feature WikiProject Japan, has been postponed.
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