Stories covering privacy concerns over Google’s purchase of Jaiku and how Google wants to take over the universe start sounding like good old fashioned conspiracy theories.
But is that all they are? I think that if the Biblical Anti Christ could exist as an entity rather than a single person Google pretty much fits the bill. At the very least we should all be seriously worried about the potential lack of any personal privacy. Do you really want some super computer to know what you like to wear, eat, where you like to shop, read, hang out - it doesn’t take much more than a sophisticated behavioural and psycho analytical algorithm to extrapolate what you are likely to wear, eat, read, and so on in the future. Telling Google about what I want and like to do now is fine - that’s my choice. But I do not want them turning around and telling me what I will want and like! That’s just not right.
Now that the furor is dying down over Virgil’s WikiScanner some helpful souls are moving the conversation towards how companies should manage their reputation on Wikipedia. It’s starting to sound like White Hat SEO banter - “Don’t do anything that would upset Wikipedia”. There’s an article over at Search Engine Land by a Wikipedia editor that gives advice on how to get incorrect or slanderous content removed from your Wikipedia page which says, in short: Don’t do it yourself. The comments got so contentious that Danny closed them down before I had a chance to post.
Why doesn’t Wikipedia want you to edit information about yourself or your company? Their position is that someone who is too close to a company/person/topic may not be able to provide the neutrality Wikipedia prides itself on. Fair enough, but what if you want to correct an obvious flaw in the article about you or your company? Are you really going to wait around for some Wikipedia “angel” to swoop down and edit it for you?
I am in complete agreement that Wikipedia articles should be kept neutral and unbiased but I do not agree that just because you are “close” to the company you are unable to edit the article in the correct manner. I am not referring here to whitewashing or spin tactics, I’m talking about fixing obvious errors such as spelling mistakes, dates, numbers and other openly verifiable facts.
I went to the Perth WebJam last night and it was great fun. Not having met any of the web community here yet I was impressed by the turn out - roughly 100 - and the atmosphere. It was very much a close knit club, warm and friendly although in true Aussie style just a bit rowdy and kinda noisy.
WebJam, as I found out last night, is not so much a conference as a show off night. You get 3 minutes to show case the latest cool thing you’ve done - very much like show and tell but with laptops and projectors.
There were some interesting projects showcased such as Clever Starfish’s Be Packed backpacker’s trip planner and Scouta’s I.C.A.R.R.U.S. which I don’t think there’s a link to yet as they’d only just finished it in time for the WebJam talent show.
But my absolute favourite was Daniel Brouse’s presentation. He has done a lovely job of his site but the best bit is the quokka photo. It’s totally fab!