[BNM] Wikipedia vs Wikiasari (was Wikipedia - IP paranoia)

[matt zb]

After giving a bit more thought to this I don't think it's actually the
privacy issue that is worrying me here, it is more the seemingly innocent
Wikipedia "no follow" policy change.

http://blog.outer-court.com/archive/2007-01-22-n21.html

I'm wondering if a change of policy at Wikipedia, one that is clearly going
to have an effect on their Google rankings, is more than just an anti-spam
policy. Especially seeing as Jimmy Wales is launching Wikiasari later this
year, which is going to make Google his main competitor.

I won't copy and paste it all, but I've explained my thoughts in much
greater detail here: http://zenbullets.com/blog/?p=59

I may be being taking this completely out of proportion, but I'd be
interested to hear the thoughts of BNM on the subject.


mzb


> We've had a little telling off from Wikipedia this week:
> 
> "Please do not add inappropriate external links to Wikipedia. Wikipedia is
> not a mere directory of links nor should it be used for advertising or
> promotion. Inappropriate links include (but are not limited to) links to
> personal web sites, links to web sites with which you are affiliated, and
> links that exist to attract visitors to a web site or promote a product..."
> 
> We all share the same IP address at LL, so in looking to see what they're on
> about, I have discovered there is a complete record of every modification
> anyone in our office has ever made to Wikipedia, which is publicly available
> to anyone who knows our IP.
> 
> The link added was purely innocuous, and the warning probably had more to do
> with WikiPedia's intention to become a link drain[*] than being in any way
> "inappropriate". 
> 
> But now I am completely paranoid about how much of what we write on the web
> can be tracked back to an IP address. For example, can an IP be associated
> to message boards posts too? I'm almost scared to google it.
> 
> mzb
> 
> [* http://blog.outer-court.com/archive/2007-01-22-n21.html ]