This particular contretemps demonstrates Wikipedia's greatest weakeness: addressing controversial contemporary issues, exacerbated by the level of vitriol and online savvy of the parties involved in this particular arena.
As a general rule, Wikipedia is an awesome resource, and the vast majority of its information is provided in a way that no other sort of body could provide. When was James Garfield born? What was the vote on the Civil Rights Act of 1964? Who was Gotthold Ephraim Lessing and what is a dramaturg? Wikipedia's got you covered. But the more matters wander into hot political or social topics, the more checking of references and double-checking of judgments and conclusions is necessary.
Sort of like the Internet as a whole, only more convenient.
Having drawn my own conclusions about the Gamergate controversy from a fair amount of reading, the actions of Wikipedia's Arbitration Committee is more than a bit disappointing.
Wikipedia Purged a Group of Feminist Editors Because of Gamergate
For nearly as long as the antifeminist culture war known as Gamergate has raged across the internet, a microcosm of the battle has taken place on Wikipedia. Should Gamergate defined as a push for ethics in gaming journalism, or a paranoid campaign against women in gaming? This week, Wikipedia’s highest court made a major decision in favor of the former.
The gamergate group is a crowd of interesting folks. I see them as the online tea party to a certain extent. They tend to have Randian views of the world and lean heavily on personal responsibility. They claim not to be sexist but supporting equal rights for all and see feminists as the sexist ones.
Trying to have a conversation with them is not very easy I've found. Even reasonable comments get hive minded down. But the most interesting thing to note is the vast majority of them claim no ownership to the people conducting the attacks and they claim these attacks have nothing to do with their movement. Which is odd because half the stuff coming from them are videos trying to show how Anita is a fraud. Whatev.
They are a small group afforded a lot of power somehow.
Oh, look! The guys over at Wiki have now proven whose is biggest, and they didn’t even have to slap them on the table and get out a ruler. This just further persuades me that although Wiki is a good resource, it should always be taken with a teaspoon of salt and more research.