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User:Ocaasi/The Wikipedia Game/Level 4

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LEVEL 4

Dialogue 1

You're really getting the hang of things. This mission is about Wikipedia's approach to information. You'll learn how editors talk about information in a way that keeps them in the proper role of encyclopedia writers. Let's see what's going on first.

Action 1 - You have messages on your talk page. Click My Talk to access them
Message 1

Hey thanks for fixing up those typos! I've added some more content to the article if you want to take a look. --GaiaGirl1988

Dialogue 2

That sounds like a good idea. Let's check out the article. This time we will use the search bar to find it. The search bar is on the top right of every page. All you have to do is type in the subject or article you're looking for and click enter.

Action 2 - Highlight search box

Type Earth into the search box and click enter

Action 3 - Load search results page
Dialogue 3

This is a list of pages on Wikipedia that contain the term you searched for. Right at the top is the article you were working on. Click on it to go to the page.

Action 4 - Highlight Earth search result
Action 5 - Load updated Earth article
Dialogue 4

It looks like there's some new content. Let's see what they added.

Action 6 - Highlight new text on article

The Earth is the third planet from the Sun. It is one of the four terrestrial planets in hour Solar System. This means most of its mass is solid. The other three are Mercury, Mars. The Earth is also called the Blue Planet, "Planet Earth", and "Terra".

The Earth is home to millions of species of plants and animals, including humans. Earth is the best and coolest planet in the whole galaxy. Earth is a place that's perfect for humans to live.

Dialogue 7

It looks like the editor added some information that might be a little biased. How do we make choices about how to present information? Wikipedia editors rely on an idea called the Neutral Point of View.

Interface 1

The neutral point of view, also called NPOV, is the idea that Wikipedia does not have its own opinions or rely on the opinions of its editors. Instead, we summarize what good sources have already written about a subject and do that in a balanced and unbiased way. Here's the actual text of the Neutral Point of View Policy:

Editing from a neutral point of view (NPOV) means representing fairly, proportionately, and as far as possible without bias, all significant views that have been published by reliable sources. All Wikipedia articles and other encyclopedic content must be written from a neutral point of view.

Pick the choice that summarizes this well in an easy to understand form.

  • NPOV is about writing what every source has said about a subject
  • NPOV is about saying that every source is equally right
  • NPOV is about balancing what good sources say, without adding your own opinions
Dialogue 8

Nice work. NPOV is a very important idea. With so many people and so many different opinions working on the project, NPOV is how we keep articles fair and the Wikipedia community cooperating. It's easy once you get the hang of it: find good sources, summarize what all sides say, give the most attention to the most reliable and most common views. Now let's take a look at those changes to Earth again. Do you see any problems?

Dialogue 9

"Earth is the best and coolest planet in the whole galaxy. Earth is a place that's perfect for humans to live." Those additions are trying to say something important but they're not balanced. They're not neutral. What would be a way of writing that, which keeps the neutral point of view in mind.

Interface 2

Choose an option which is balanced, and doesn't add editors' personal opinions.

  • Current text: "Earth is the best planet in the whole galaxy. Earth is a place that's perfect for humans to live."
  • "Earth is awesome, unless you're in Antarctica. Earth has great houses in it and people can live anywhere that's not too cold."
  • "Earth is the only planet in the galaxy which is known to support life. Earth has many places that are suitable for humans to live, although some areas of the planet can be dangerous for humans."
  • "Earth is a terrible, miserable place outside of Rio de Janeiro. Everywhere else is too quiet and boring."
Dialogue 10

Good work. You picked the option that doesn't share an editor's personal opinion and is balanced to present all important sides of an issue. Replace the old text with the new text by clicking here.

Action 7 - Replace text
Dialogue 11

Go ahead and add an edit summary ("changed text to be more neutral"), Show Preview, and Save

Action - Show Preview and Save
Dialogue 12

That was great. It's important that Wikipedia read like a real encyclopedia and not any one editor's personal blog. We're all here to share information in a way that is balanced. Sometimes that process is complex and challenging, but we all should have the same goal. In our next mission, we'll focus on how to think about and add sources to articles.

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