Wikipedia to Add Review Layer to Articles About People

Posted on August 24, 2009

The New York Times reports that the online user-generated encyclopedia called Wikipedia is going to start reviewing changes that can be made to articles about living people. An editorial review layer will be added to articles so that a more experienced editor reviews article changes before they are live on the website.

Officials at the Wikimedia Foundation, the nonprofit in San Francisco that governs Wikipedia, say that within weeks, the English-language Wikipedia will begin imposing a layer of editorial review on articles about living people.

The new feature, called "flagged revisions," will require that an experienced volunteer editor for Wikipedia sign off on any change made by the public before it can go live. Until the change is approved - or in Wikispeak, flagged - it will sit invisibly on Wikipedia's servers, and visitors will be directed to the earlier version.

The change is part of a growing realization on the part of Wikipedia's leaders that as the site grows more influential, they must transform its embrace-the-chaos culture into something more mature and dependable.

The article says the new editing procedures are already in place on the German version of Wikipedia. The Times says 60 million people now use Wikipedia each month. The Times notes that editing changes mean some Wikipedia editors will have more clout than others. The big concern is that new editorial review layer could delay important changes to the people articles.



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