# Wikipedia and Me **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [June 8, 2006, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wikipedia-and-me/359837 "2006-06-08T03:20:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![The\_Long\_Road](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b5a626/32.png) [@The\_Long\_Road](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Long_Road)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2006, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wikipedia-and-me/359837/1 "2006-06-08T03:20:44Z")
I love Wikipedia. Can’t get enough of it. When I am bored I follow the links for everything interesting and absorb the knowledge. I also read the discussion pages to see the comments to get extra info or corrections. The problem is I realized I don’t know enough about any subject to write something worth posting. The shame, the shame… ---
**Author:** ![Rigamarole](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/77aa72/32.png) [@Rigamarole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rigamarole)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2006, 3:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wikipedia-and-me/359837/2 "2006-06-08T03:42:59Z")
So what do you want me to do about it? ---
**Author:** ![Snooooopy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee7513/32.png) [@Snooooopy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snooooopy)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2006, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wikipedia-and-me/359837/3 "2006-06-08T03:46:04Z")
You can also make a contribution by correcting the spelling and grammar of the hordes of language-impaired cretins who patronize the site. ---
**Author:** ![Lama\_Pacos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Lama\_Pacos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lama_Pacos)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2006, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wikipedia-and-me/359837/4 "2006-06-08T03:48:49Z")
Yeah, I don’t have much knowledge but I’m good at editing; whenever I come across a spelling, grammar, or punctuation error I correct it. ---
**Author:** ![thirdname](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d07c76/32.png) [@thirdname](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thirdname)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2006, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wikipedia-and-me/359837/5 "2006-06-08T04:12:22Z")
You don’t need to know all that much to contribute. For instance, Wikipedia is becoming a very good source on video games, so you could see if there’s a favorite old one you could start an article on. Include a link to the publisher’s article and things like that. If you can’t write much, just make a stub and then look for pages that should link to it, like lists of games in my example. People will eventually find it and improve it. You can even add a link to an article that doesn’t exist yet, in order to encourage people to create the article. There are a lot of those on list pages. There might be things you could correct or add to. I corrected a bad article on neck-through guitars which indicated that only one-piece guitars are “true” neck-thrus, which raises the question of _what_ the neck goes “thru.” If you come across a really short article, mark it as a stub if it isn’t. If it’s TOO short, or irrelevant, or bad, mark it for deletion. I marked the [Clonoulty](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clonoulty) article for deletion and it was quickly expanded; I don’t know a thing about it and I’ve never been to Ireland. It came up as a random article. You can add map & overhead-photo templates to location articles. Just look it up on [http://maps.google.com](http://maps.google.com) and get the latitude & longitude from the “Link to this” link. I just added map links to a few of my schools. There are all sorts of little things you can do. I’ve gone through a couple of articles that were way too blue, like every other word, and removed the excess links. ---
**Author:** ![Garfield226](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Garfield226](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Garfield226)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2006, 4:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wikipedia-and-me/359837/6 "2006-06-08T04:29:03Z")
It’s pretty simple to remove vandalism, and often you don’t need any specific knowledge of the topic at hand. While I’ve started or made significant contributions to a handful of articles, I’ve removed vandalism from probably hundreds more. ---
**Author:** ![Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e480ec/32.png) [@Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Least_Original_User_Name_Ever)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2006, 4:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wikipedia-and-me/359837/7 "2006-06-08T04:34:54Z")
I was kinda expecting some kind of really cool montage…you know…with **The Long Road** and Wikipedia..hand in hand…skipping through a field of daisies… TLR: “Yeah, Wikipedia, what would I do without you?” W: “I don’t know, Roadie. I guess you’d just not..know…as much…wouldn’t you?” TLR: “Yeah, Wikipedia. You know..you’re just so..awesome. I think I love you. Nobody else…um..accesses you, do they?” W: (Wikipedia has a look of shock on its face) “Well..um..you know…I…I get a lot of people knocking on my door..looking for the same information you’re looking for.” TLR: (with head down, the look of shame) I thought I was special, Wikipedia. I even made you a friendship bracelet. I even put your address to the entry for “slap bracelets”. [Slap bracelet - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slap_bracelets) (holding back tears). W: (picking your chin up, playfully giving your chin one of those soft, playful punches) You know, TLR, you’re great. You’ll find a domain name. A _better_ domain name. I’m a dot org. You’re better off with a dot com. No, no. Don’t you cry. Be happy. I treasure the times we spent together. TLR: Yeah. Maybe you’re right. Can I still have unlimited access to your knowledge for free? W: You betcha. Hey, TLR? TLR: Yeah? W: Thanks for the slap bracelet. It’s awesome. (end scene) ---
**Author:** ![Askia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/96bed5/32.png) [@Askia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askia)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2006, 12:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wikipedia-and-me/359837/8 "2006-06-08T12:18:09Z")
:: Just shakin’ my head. :: \*\*L.O.U.N.E., \*\* you are just a very weird dude sometimes, you know that? ---
**Author:** ![The\_Long\_Road](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b5a626/32.png) [@The\_Long\_Road](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Long_Road)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2006, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wikipedia-and-me/359837/9 "2006-06-09T00:53:30Z")
[QUOTE=Rigamarole] So what do you want me to do about it? [/QUOTE] If I ever figure it out, I’ll write a Wikipedia article about it and send you the link ---
**Author:** ![The\_Long\_Road](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b5a626/32.png) [@The\_Long\_Road](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Long_Road)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2006, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wikipedia-and-me/359837/10 "2006-06-09T00:56:30Z")
[QUOTE=Least Original User Name Ever] I was kinda expecting some kind of really cool montage…you know…with **The Long Road** and Wikipedia..hand in hand…skipping through a field of daisies… TLR: “Yeah, Wikipedia, what would I do without you?” W: “I don’t know, Roadie. I guess you’d just not..know…as much…wouldn’t you?” TLR: “Yeah, Wikipedia. You know..you’re just so..awesome. I think I love you. Nobody else…um..accesses you, do they?” W: (Wikipedia has a look of shock on its face) “Well..um..you know…I…I get a lot of people knocking on my door..looking for the same information you’re looking for.” TLR: (with head down, the look of shame) I thought I was special, Wikipedia. I even made you a friendship bracelet. I even put your address to the entry for “slap bracelets”. [Slap bracelet - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slap_bracelets) (holding back tears). W: (picking your chin up, playfully giving your chin one of those soft, playful punches) You know, TLR, you’re great. You’ll find a domain name. A _better_ domain name. I’m a dot org. You’re better off with a dot com. No, no. Don’t you cry. Be happy. I treasure the times we spent together. TLR: Yeah. Maybe you’re right. Can I still have unlimited access to your knowledge for free? W: You betcha. Hey, TLR? TLR: Yeah? W: Thanks for the slap bracelet. It’s awesome. (end scene) [/QUOTE] Send that to Hollywood. Sounds like the next blockbuster, right after “Snakes on a plane” ---
**Author:** ![Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e480ec/32.png) [@Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Least_Original_User_Name_Ever)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2006, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wikipedia-and-me/359837/11 "2006-06-09T01:04:34Z")
[QUOTE=Askia] :: Just shakin’ my head. :: \*\*L.O.U.N.E., \*\* you are just a very weird dude sometimes, you know that? [/QUOTE] The term you may be looking for is “endearing”. It must be something in the water in Detroit. ---
**Author:** ![Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e480ec/32.png) [@Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Least_Original_User_Name_Ever)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2006, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wikipedia-and-me/359837/12 "2006-06-09T01:05:35Z")
[QUOTE=The Long Road] Send that to Hollywood. Sounds like the next blockbuster, right after “Snakes on a plane” [/QUOTE] That’s right. I’m so living off the proceeds.