Wikipedia accused of trashing history

Historian and journalist Benj Edwards has accused "vigilante Wikipedia users" of deleting little-known scraps of gaming history. On Vintage Computing and Gaming, which Edwards runs, the article Wikipedia is Deleting BBS Game History detailed an ongoing battle between Wikipedia editors and users. The former stated certain games aren't notable enough for inclusion in the online encyclopaedia, in part because people don't still talk about them; historians and gamers from the era have been outraged by such sentiments.

This isn't the first time Wikipedia editors have taken to removing relatively niche subject matter from the online resource, something that seems at odds with infinite space on the web and an encyclopaedia's desire to encompass as much knowledge as possible. Speaking to .net, Edwards also suggested it ran counter to Wikipedia's own history: "The site began as a collection of under-documented, under-cited articles that originated from the knowledge of its many authors and plagiarism of websites. You can think of those early entries as seeds of knowledge that later bloomed into mature, verifiable sources of information. In the same sense, it is counterproductive to trim away every 'non-notable' or poorly-sourced article because that denies them a chance to grow into something better in the future."

Thank you for reading 5 articles this month* Join now for unlimited access

Enjoy your first month for just £1 / $1 / €1

*Read 5 free articles per month without a subscription

Join now for unlimited access

Try first month for just £1 / $1 / €1

The Creative Bloq team is made up of a group of design fans, and has changed and evolved since Creative Bloq began back in 2012. The current website team consists of eight full-time members of staff: Editor Georgia Coggan, Deputy Editor Rosie Hilder, Ecommerce Editor Beren Neale, Senior News Editor Daniel Piper, Editor, Digital Art and 3D Ian Dean, Tech Reviews Editor Erlingur Einarsson and Ecommerce Writer Beth Nicholls and Staff Writer Natalie Fear, as well as a roster of freelancers from around the world. The 3D World and ImagineFX magazine teams also pitch in, ensuring that content from 3D World and ImagineFX is represented on Creative Bloq. 

TOPICS