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Wikipedia founder to launch rival wiki

Wikipedia founder Larry Sanger is launching a rival to Wikipedia, called Citizendium, which he says will offer more editorial oversight by restricting who can create articles. The site is in alpha testing now and will launch publicly by the end of the year.

The Citizendium (sit-ih-ZEN-dee-um), a "citizens' compendium of everything," will be an experimental new wiki project that combines public participation with gentle expert guidance. It will begin life as a "progressive fork" of Wikipedia. But we expect it to take on a life of its own and, perhaps, to become the flagship of a new set of responsibly-managed free knowledge projects. We will avoid calling it an "encyclopedia," because there will probably always be articles in the resource that have not been vouched for in any sense.
We believe a fork is necessary, and justified, both to allow regular people a place to work under the direction of experts, and in which personal accountability--including the use of real names--is expected. In short, we want to create a responsible community and a good global citizen.

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4 comments about 'Wikipedia founder to launch rival wiki'

I think this is a very wrong move. Why not just enforce responsibility in Wikipedia by making users register and confirm their identity, ala paypal style? Then throw in editors to Wikipedia to provide guidance. Having two defacto citizen powered information sources will only serve to confuse users and obscure information (Wikipedia referencing Citizendium and vice-versa). I thought Mr. Sanger was smarter than this. Damn, just when the world gets a beautiful and free source of knowledge irrational decisions and ignorance has to go and screw it up.

Posted by Garrett Johnson at October 22, 2006 7:41 AM

Isn't Wikipedia already a partly failed system, insofar as there is no editorial oversight? As it is, quacks, or clowns, can post whatever "definition" they want, and they regularly define things wrongly.

Posted by Jonathan Barnes at October 27, 2006 1:23 PM

Yes, does seem a bit strange. Me sniffs power plays in the wikipedia sand pit?

Or maybe not.

I agree that people can post anything they want - that's the whole point! And, if it attracts enough attention, others will become as incensed as Barnes and actually edit content, rather than just complain about it - I think that might be another point behind wikipedia?

Anyhows, in the final analysis, it may actually do some good. Allowing a separate branch for anonymous comments ensures freedoms of speech for people in countries who may be punished for speaking out.

You know, those countries without the first amendment?

And ... longer term ... it may put extra pressure on wikipedia editors and contributors to be more accountable for their musings and sign with their real names.

All good, and thanks cyberjourno for consistently interesting topics, even from an overseas viewpoint.

Posted by Anonymous at October 28, 2006 7:09 PM

... and in typical journo style, I forgot to sign my name to the above post by "anonymous" !

Posted by jason brown at October 28, 2006 7:10 PM

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