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Can I trust Wikipedia? - Trang Doan's Newsletter

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It’s probably today because even if you didn’t actively look for Wikipedia, it shows up on Google search as a Knowledge panel or Rich result. 60% of the time, Google will show Wikipedia text as their highlighted search results. I first learned about Wikipedia’s influence on public opinion from a Public History class. Duh, what’s the first place you’ll reach if your teacher asks you to write about Vietnam war? Wikipedia! Let’s compare these two entries from two different language versions. I searched up “terrorism” and “khủng bố” (terrorism in Vietnamese) to see how it’s mentioned in English and Vietnamese versions. English version’s use of “terrorism” is for North Vietnam/ Communist actions, while the Vietnamese version is for American-backed anti-Communists. Two pages contain opposite views about Vietnam War. Imagine a 16-year-old doing a history assignment, how much of their opinions will be shaped by which Wikipedia entry they encounter? Or simply, which language they searched Googl

Can I trust Wikipedia? This is a blog post version of my Capstone project, which aims to improve information literacy on Wikipedia, using Machine Learning. I intend this post for non-technical readers. Trang Doan Feb 19, 2023 2 1 Share Overview When’s the last time you checked out a Wikipedia page? It’s probably today because even if you didn’t actively look for Wikipedia, it shows up on Google search as a Knowledge panel or Rich result. 60% of the time , Google will show Wikipedia text as their highlighted search results. Knowledge Panel and Answer Box in Google search result. Source I first

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