Have Cash - Will Pay For Wikipedia Writeup

If there's anything John Kerry and Microsoft have in common, other than bundles of cash lying around, it is a tendency to shove their own feet solidly into their own mouths. The latest online smackdown? Microsoft offers cash to a blogger, Rick Jelliffe, to edit wikipedia entries. End result? No edits, but a new entry in wikipedia, which says that Microsoft offered cash to Rick Jelliffe.

AP writer Brian Bergstein asks a stupid question "Should Wikipedia writers be paid?" Of course, they shouldn't be paid. Can you make money as a wikipedia writer? Another stupid question. Of course you can. Isn't there something wrong here? Stop being dense, huh? This is the real world.

If it's good, people start looking for ways to make money off it. It's called the support or service industry. Same as adwords consultants and ebay consultants, there's bound to be 'wikipedia' consultants. Debating if it's right or wrong is all fine, but just like with the US congress, reality is far ahead. Wikipedia is no longer an innocent virgin, but digital real-estate soiled by massive egos and a hint of over-reaching. Their arrogance is breath-taking. 'We can do no wrong because we are the voice of the people.'

Far as I'm concerned, wikipedia is a great help for getting all your information on one page, instead of googling it and looking up a hundred pages. But it's by no means indispensable. Dmoz is lying in ruins today. Tomorrow, someone else will come up with a brighter model, and wikipedia will be toast, not toast of the year.