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Why do these volunteers dedicate so much time to updating pages? Its fairly simple, really. If you make small insightful edits, its possible that if youre on ahighly trafficked article, your work is going to be read by aton of people, says Rauwerda. Plus, we all like the buzz of being the first to do something, dont we? Its just like chipping into the Twitter discourse with afresh, spicy take.

But on Wikipedia you tend to be anonymous, which makes the pursuit of editing its pages amore noble trade. You dont get glory. You dont get recognition beyond asmall community of media editors, says Rauwerda. You certainly dont get money. But there are alot of very smart, selfless people that spend alot of time writing history in real time.

One of these is Steven Pruitt, the most prolific (English language) Wikipedia editor of them all. Pruitt goes under the username Ser Amantio di Nicolao, which is borrowed from aminor character in Giacomo Puccinis opera Gianni Schicchi. Hes made over five million edits to Wikipedia and created well over 30,000 articles, so youve almost certainly read his work at some point. Given how prolific his edits are, hes also dipped across afew categories of wiki editor during the roughly twenty years in which hes been avolunteer. Atrue Jack of all WikiFauna, in aReddit AMA, Pruitt himself said, Wikipedias afree community it wouldnt feel right asking for money to edit. Its ahobby. One that has taken over my life abit, but ahobby nonetheless.

And yes, anyone can edit Wikipedia thats why were told not to rely on it too much for university assignments or whatever. But the people doing so are generally diligent and accurate, updating and creating pages out of the kindness of their hearts. Without them, youd still be quietly seething after not being able to prove you were right about whatever sparked your last pub debate. Wikipedia, what awonderful world.

Read more from the original source:
Inside the world of Wikipedia's deaditors - The Face