Occasionally I find myself on wikipedia regarding palestinian organisations (in this case the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine) and, always, the citations are iffy and more often than not there is blatant misinformation

I do want to edit these to fix it, but since it is wikipedia it requires me to have an account that actively edits other articles and whatever, plus checking the talk page, its also rife with other liberal shenanigans and ignoring input, ill probably get put under a flame if i try to edit it and probrably get it locked down

Its not like im ready for it anyway lol, i dont know where to get sources, that to trust, which words to look out for, contradictory statements, etc, and im not the smartest tool in the shed

do any of you contribute to wikipedia regularly to, like, aid me on this?

  • stupid_asshole69 [none/use name]@hexbear.netEnglish
    3·
    1 day ago

    Only if you want to become one of the people who adamantly oppose using Wikipedia to learn from.

    If you go through the multi year process of becoming “trusted” then you will be exposed to an ever more Byzantine maze of policy and codes which will be mobilized against you for reasons you don’t understand.

    Check wikipedias own list of dumb shit that happened to get an idea of the kind of manipulation, stalking, paid abuse and gaslighting you’re staring down the barrel of.

    It’s, without a hint of exaggeration, more toxic than 4chan. I only chose that comparison because 4chan is perceived as toxic, not because it actually is.

    E: the provided link is not the definitive word on those events even a complete catalog of them. I only used it to give examples of the organizations reality in its own words. People often say “well, those are a few things and Wikipedia is a big website, it can’t be that widespread”, but some of these deceptions and errors went on for ten years or more.

    • Camden28 [any, comrade/them]@hexbear.netEnglish
      9·
      2 days ago

      While this is true of new editors and single-subject editors, and especially true for divisive issues, it can be done. Once you’ve built up a few years of good writing and good edits, you can have some success at the hot button topics – but be prepared to defend your position and reasons on the talk pages. Note it really does take YEARS to get have sway. The power users have so many trolls to swat down all the time that they don’t check every random edit from random new people.