One of the questions I get most frequently is: "If anyone can edit a wiki, how do you protect the organization from misinformation or, worse yet, from vandalism." So I was really happy to see the following paragraph in yesterday's New York Times article on Diplopedia, the State Department wiki for the diplomacy community:
What if someone creates disinformation or vandalism? Mr. Johnson was asked in Egypt -- a not-infrequent question when the topic of wikis comes up. He pointed out that unlike Wikipedia, Diplopedia does not allow anonymous contributors, so bad actors could be tracked down. He then observed, "There are plenty of ways to commit career suicide; wikis are just the newest one." (my emphasis)
Give that man a cigar! (That man is Eric M. Johnson from the State Department's eDiplomacy group.) Vandalism and misinformation may be legitimate concerns on public sites like Wikipedia, especially after high-profile missteps like the infamous Siegenthaler incident. Inside the firewall, however, it's a complete non-issue.
The difference is that inside the firewall, every comment, edit, blog post, and personal profile are automatically attributed by to the author by name--by real name, the name on your door plate, your email, your desk stationary, and your pay stub.
We all have many opportunities every day to flame each other, vandalize each other's work, and spread faulty or under-scrutinized information around the workplace. I could fire off a few choice emails or leave some nasty voicemails right now that would really upset some folks. Why don't I do it? Human decency, professional courtesy and, yes, a desire not to get fired, all have something to do with it. But it's not because I can't.
Until just a few years ago, most workers did not have access to tools which would allow them to mass-publish content to their peers. We now have that access in the form of blogs, wikis, discussion boards, personal profiles, and other collaborative tools. That's a big change. But it doesn't mean that basic standards and behavioral norms will suddenly fly out the window. I'm happy to see the State Department call that out for the myth that it is.
August 7, 2008 10:53 AM
There are at least two good thing about career suicide by wiki: your mistake is editable and it is not instantly distributed. If one sends out a dumb email there is no way to edit it, or recall it (without the approval of the receiver). It is instantly published to everyone you addresses (hopefully not everyone).
At least with a stupid wiki entry, you can go back and revise it or roll back the change. Also if you come to your senses quickly your error is not likely to get noticed. Sure the revision is in findable, but the odds of people finding it without already knowing about it are small.