Wikipedia Forked-up?

By Ian, on September 17th, 2006

Larry Sanger, the first editor-in-chief of Wikipedia, and allegedly the originator of the plan to make it a wiki, has announced that he plans to fork the project. The new branch will have no anonymous changes and expert editors. The project will be called the ‘Citizendium’. (Hang on, I know there are some PRs among my readers — could you not possibly do a little pro-bono branding advice?)

We believe a fork is necessary, and justified, both to allow regular people a place to work under the direction of experts, and in which personal accountability–including the use of real names–is expected. In short, we want to create a responsible community and a good global citizen.

While Wikipedia has come under continuous fire for its open editing policy, most notably, perhaps in Nick Carrs’s essay The Amorality of Web 2.0, this is quite shocking news. The extent to which it is greeted by existing Wikipedia contributors and editors remains to be seen, of course.

From the FAQ:

Are you attempting to shut Wikipedia down?
No. That makes up no part of our aim. We wish instead to leverage the fantastic resource that is Wikipedia and use it to create something better.
Aha! So you are trying to outdo Wikipedia, aren’t you?
Well, of course. Why else would we be proposing a fork?
If you’re not trying to shut Wikipedia down, then what relationship do you want with Wikipedia?
A mutually complementary one, in which we occupy different social niches, as it were. Those who want to work in a system committed to the maximum empowerment of amateurs should always be able to do so on Wikipedia. Those who, by contrast, want to work shoulder-to-shoulder in a bottom-up system with experts, in which the experts are able to settle content disputes, will soon have the option of doing so on the Citizendium. Furthermore, those who want the option of working anonymously and in a wild-and-woolly atmosphere in which rules are not necessarily enforced should always be able to do so on Wikipedia. Those who, by contrast, want to take personal, real-world responsibility for their efforts, and to work in a dynamic but rule-governed environment, will soon have the option of doing so on the Citizendium.