Wikipedia colour codes credible edits

 

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By Stuart Turton

Posted on 1 Sep 2009 at 17:25

Wikipedia is considering signalling the trustworthiness of its articles with a new colour-coding system.

Dubbed WikiTrust, the new algorithm will colour code newly edited sections of articles based on the reliability of the author's past edits (judged on lifespan) and the length of time that edit has persisted on the page - the theory being that the longer an edit holds the more reliable it's liable to be.

To that end, text from new or questionable authors would be highlighted in a vivid orange, fading through lighter shades and disappearing altogether for proven editors.

Clearly, covering articles in blobs of orange would likely upset a fair few people and so to access the feature users will need to register with the site and switch it on.

The scheme throws up a myriad of problems, not least of which is the fact that it automatically assumes new authors are untrustworthy - meaning that should, say, Stephen Hawking choose to edit an entry on black holes he'd be deemed unreliable.

Enhancements would be introduced in the spirit of letting readers and editors better understand which articles, facts, or edits need to be reviewed for quality

However, Wikimedia, the organisation which oversees the online encyclopaedia, was keen to point out that Wikitrust is still in its trial phase.

"When WikiTrust makes its way through testing and analysis it may be made available as an optional tool that Wikipedia users can activate through their user settings. That timeframe has still not been set," says the foundation in a statement.

"The Foundation is also looking at introducing a number of visible trust/quality metric tools, which may include tools familiar to many users, including 'rate this article' tools on Wikipedia pages. These enhancements would be introduced in the spirit of letting readers and editors better understand which articles, facts, or edits need to be reviewed for quality and accuracy," it concludes.

WikiTrust is the second significant alteration to be suggested for Wikipedia in recent weeks. The site is also rolling out a feature called Flagged Revisions, which will require edits made about living people to be signed off by a senior editor.