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Wikis

Wikis, short for wikipedias, are interactive and dynamic online encyclopedias. Here, users define and update entries, meaning you almost have a community voice on what something is. However, as entries are defined by users, they cannot always be trustworthy, and sometimes you can get personal attacks on wikis. There are general wiki sites for everything (http://www.wikipedia.org/) and then there can be more specific subject/social group wiki sites.

In wikis, users can update sections about an entry to try to give the most up-to-date and most comprehensive information for the entry. However, this ability for users to update entries can at times turn into personal attacks. Whenever an entry changes, you can go back and view the history of the wikipedia entry. Below are the "Missing Website" section that used to be under "The Tartan" entry on wikipedia.org (The Tartan is Carnegie Mellon's University's student-run newspaper). You can see how it became a personal attack:

Missing Website: 2004 - Present (Added 9/23/05)

In the spring of 2004, a disgruntled employee removed the code for The Tartan's website from its server. A theft report was filed with Campus Police, but due to ambiguous legal restrictions, the aftermath is unable to be disclosed. Since then, The Tartan has had to rebuild its internal and external websites from scratch.
People close to the case know that it was one Jason Surovy who removed the code, angry that "nobody liked him" and who didn't feel "worthless" was a good excuse not to let him remain on the paper as a contributing editor. Jason was famous for being "hungover under his desk" on Sundays when he was supposed to be working. Jason's strange androgeny led many to question his sexual preference.
Jason now serves at a faceless corporation where he wiles away the day regretting his lack of honesty and soul, and feeling deeply ashamed that he stole much of the source code he claimed as his own from Aseem Gupta, previous editor-in-chief of The Tartan.

Missing Website: 2004 - Present (Updated 9/24/05)

Missing Website: 2004 - Present (Updated 9/27/05)

In the spring of 2004, a disgruntled employee removed the code for The Tartan's Web site from its server.
People close to the case know that it was Jason "Eternally Frustrated" Surovy who took the code, after storming out of an otherwise-fun meeting in which he was not nominated to contributing editor. Jason rushed down to The Tartan office and illegally broke in to The Tartan's server, breaking a law that is not ambiguous except at private universities, also known as bizarro land.
While Jason claims to own the code, it was actually a group effort, including original code by Aseem Gupta and thorough testing by The Tartan staff.
Since then, The Tartan has had to rebuild its internal and external websites from scratch. Jason's shame continues.

Missing Website: 2004 - Present (Updated 9/29/05)

Missing Website: 2004 - Present (Updated 9/30/05)

In the spring of 2004, Jason Surovy accessed The Tartan's servers and removed the code for The Tartan's Web site shortly after leaving a meeting in which the editor-in-chief failed to nominate him for a contributing editor position. A theft report was filed with Campus Police, and the University held a disciplinary hearing, in which the committee determined the code belonged to Surovy. Since then, The Tartan has had to rebuild its internal and external Web sites from scratch.
Unfortunately, this true story is hard to keep on Wikipedia because someone keeps removing the information shortly after I post it.
Give it a rest Kevin.
Visit the history of this page for a slightly more biased account.
The battle continues.