The Coronavirus is Stress-Testing Wikipedia’s Systems—And Editors

The Coronavirus Is Stress-Testing Wikipedia’s Policies

When Wikipedia editors describe the challenges they face in producing coronavirus articles for the free internet encyclopedia, they bring up two main themes: novelty and speed. “Clearly the rapid expansion of the pandemic and the justified general concern makes it impossible to write a stable article,” Graham Beards, a Wikipedia editor, said. Beards is a retired consultant virologist for the NHS in the United Kingdom who in recent weeks has been actively editing and monitoring the Wikipedia articles for the 2019–20 coronavirus pandemic, COVID-19 (the infectious disease itself), and SARS-CoV-2 (the virus causing the disease). “Everyone has an opinion and the lack of reliable sources, which [are] the bedrock of our medical articles on Wikipedia, does not help.”

>> Read my latest article about coronavirus & Wikipedia for Slate

In these difficult times, I am wishing health and safety to you and yours. #flattenthecurve

Best,
Stephen

Past articles:
- How Wikipedia Fought Back Against a Ban in Turkey
- The Very Respectful Wikipedia Battles Over "OK Boomer"