Fergie's Tech Blog

Wikipedia’s Anna Nicole Angst

Alexandra Berzon writes on Red Herring:

While still alive, Anna Nicole Smith dyed her hair blonde, got breast enhancements, and donned an up-swept skirt, but the Marilyn Monroe status she openly chased still eluded her. In death, she came closer.

By Thursday, the media couldn’t help noting that her seemingly sudden and mysterious collapse faintly echoed the demise of Ms. Monroe. But in the minutes and hours after, Anna Nicole also got something a little extra, a little nerdier than Marilyn ever could have imagined: a Wikipedia battle.

The former Playboy model, former reality TV star, and former wife of a very old billionaire was quickly swept up into the online user-generated encyclopedia’s normal eruptions. It happens, to varying degrees, pretty much any time a sensational breaking news story hits: Rapid entry changes, defacements, and corrections—all while the headlines are still churning. Meanwhile, an army of core volunteer editors pound their keyboards, struggling to maintain accuracy and objectivity in the face of falsehoods, conspiracies, and mean jokes posted on the site.

posted by Fergie @ 2/09/2007 05:54:00 PM