Editing Wikipedia: Exactly who is going it?

Think about it. Who is taking the time to edit information in Wikipedia? Cal Tech grad student Virgil Griffith has devised a way of tracking changes in entries. Among the organizations editing their copy were Congressional representatives, government agencies, and corporations. While Wikipedia allows edits by anyone who wants to do so, it makes sense to educate our students so that they'll understand what they might be getting when they use content of this type. Have corporations or individuals enhanced their entries? Have they deleted parts that are not exactly positive? Have they added press release material? Griffith found some entries that fell into these categories, but he says so far in his search most edits are "fairly innocuous." You are invited to try the Wikipedia tracker, and maybe you and your students will come up with some interesting data.