Wikipedia is a very useful and convenient resource to obtain very general information about a certain topic. It does not, however, contain enough in-depth information to be considered extremely enlightening. Before being presented this assignment, I didn't know that a "wiki" was a type of interactive writing where people from anywhere can come together and provide information on a certain topic, creating a mozaic of information. For the most part, this is very beneficial as it creates a community of those with common interests to come together and spread their ideas to the global community, allowing us as readers to gain perspective and knowledge from a variety of different people with different ideas that we may not have been able to have access to on our own. However, many times the information being presented in a wiki is not considered a reliable source since anyone can write whatever they choose, which may mislead Wikipedia readers and users. With that said, the Wikipedia stub I chose to edit was "erethism."
Wikipedia Banner [Digital Image]. (2012). Retrieved March 19, 2012, from:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page
To briefly summarize, erethism is a symptom of mercury poisoning from the inhalation of mercury vapours. It is characterized by aggressive yet shy and timid behaviour, indicating social phobia. It is not a well-known topic as it is actually very rare, especially nowadays. Erethism occurs as a result of severe mercury poisoning, and those high levels are difficult to reach. When I came across the stub, the information given was very vague, and I actually found that it was copied and pasted from another website when I was looking up additional information on its definition! After doing my research on this subject, I found that the information given in the original stub was very vague with some inaccuracies. When completing my edit, I found that there was something truly powerful about making my contribution to the academic community. With that in mind, I was determined to make a good impression and provide accurate information to all those who may be interested in this topic. Who knows, maybe my article will be able to help them some way, and that feeling gives me a sense of responsibility! I don't know who may be reading, but regardless, I want to present my work in a professional and concise way with the most accurate information. When I was sifting through different websites, looking for a definition of erethism, I actually found one excerpt which was exactly like the original stub I had to work with! This opened my eyes as to how my writing would be used in other websites as well! The information I provided in Wikipedia could be used in other resources! Writing a Wikipedia article was time-consuming, but I think the repercussions are what makes it so fulfilling.
Below is the image of the original stub before I was given the assignment:
Erethism Wikipedia stub [Screenshot]. (Lu, 2012). Retrieved March 19, 2012 from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erethism
I can truly appreciate the work that others do, having completed this assignment. I spent at least 4 hours working on this assignment, editing and reading, reading and editing. I had to dig through multiple databases to find authentic articles relevant to my topic of choice, making sure that they were reliable and that they provide consistent information compared with other articles, analyzing the information being presented, and in the end, having to organize all of this information in a way to allow interested readers to obtain a clearer image of what erethism is really about. I never expected writing a Wikipedia article to be that much hard work, so I can say that I have a new-found appreciation for those who write wiki's on a daily basis. Wikipedia does not pay its writers, so those who choose to contribute do this purely for academic purposes, hoping to help and inform others. I can personally understand now why "vandalizers" present such a threat since they basically defile all the hard work put into writing a concise, well-constructed article.
You can view my edited stub here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erethism
Please check out Clara's Wikipedia post here, as she provides some excellent perspective on the challenges and benefits of writing her Wikipedia article on cyberphobia. Like Clara, I also found it hard to relevant peer-reviewed articles on my topic, so I had to use my deduction and comparison skills to see if the information I found in one article was consistent with another, especially since one of my sources was dated back to 1856! However, since erethism was more prevalent many, many years ago, I still found it to be a valuable source of information! Clara states that "critical reflection on the part of the reader" is important as well which I completely agree with since you "can't believe everything you read."
