Wiki Ethics

My intial idea for a Wikipedia entry was to document Registered Weapon, my buddy-cop web comic published 4 times a week. As I reviewed the editing and entry process of the site, the conflict of interest issues became apparent. My journalism background (second reference in two posts!) is built around neutral reporting and preserving the unbiased state of information. Sure, I believe I could write an entirely unbiased synopsis on Registered Weapon's history, characters and current adventures but that goes against my own personal reporting ethics. And there's also that must be relevant clause too, which is humbling after searching Wikipedia and realizing no one cared enough to write an unsolicited entry on your web comic. So hey...if someone still needs a wiki entry to write, I can school you in RW lore super quick.

After abandoning that idea, I fell into the wiki blackhole of information trying to find a new topic. Growing up a comic nerd, my mind is packed with useless, 4-color tidbits about decades worth of superhero legacies. Most of the well-known characters and events are expertly documented so I started looking for information gaps on the B-List...C-List...and...finally...the D-List (from an unintiated macroscopic perspective as D-list is too subjective for snarky comics nerds) characters. I settled on The Ray, a DC hero that I doubt anyone in MIT has ever heard of before (except for the dude who commented on my Green Lantern laptop background).

Golden and Modern Age versions of The Ray

The current entry provided a nice synopsis of The Ray history. But it lacked detail. Before I graduated college into the real and started worrying about bills, deadlines and other depressingly frustrating adult stuff, I could've given an oral history of The Ray per issue of his own series and all his guest appearances. The recent decade has eroded those memories (which is likely for the best). Instead, I decided to enter a few lines about The Ray's (II), my personal favorite, recent activities in Final Crisis.

When you start typing in the live wiki entry, suddenly, the pressure is one to be 100 percent accurate. The WYSIWYG interface is pesky at first as you try to insert internal and external hyperlinks, references and other text formatting. The experience showed me that the majority of information is entered by people focused on accuracy. The Wikipedia learning curve, however slight, is a great deterrent against lazy updaters.

Before I update anymore of The Ray's page, I'll need to dig through some dusty comic boxes in the basement for a referesher on his adventures. I don't want to upset the guy who started the entry.

Guy Who (probably) Started The Entry

He looks like a stickler for deatils. Check out those buttons.