Stepping into Wikipedia Editing

       

 

       Editing in the online space is far different than editing a text. A sense of urgency exists in regards to digitally publishing credible data as its turnover rate is faster than any other medium. This rapid turn over rate is in part due to poor paraphrased writing that presents information in manners that can mislead readers.

            For the first section I edited the Wikipedia page on rhetorical velocity. The page outlined DeVoss and Ridolfo’s definition of rhetorical velocity and was on Wiki’s watch list for more sources. I found a scholarly article written by Douglas Eyman that was cited in DeVoss and Ridolfo. Eyman gave a clear example of the rhetorical velocity of a publication. I felt the wiki article could use a concrete example of the theory in “motion”. In Jones’ “Finding the Good Argument” she talks about two logical strategies: inductive and deductive reasoning. For the sake of the medium, I used deductive logic to go from a broad definition to a narrowed example. Wikipedia is interacted with via a computer/mobile device screen in a linear fashion. In an effort to mimic human reasoning I put the example after the definition.

            For the second portion of the assignment I chose to edit the Ralph Lauren Wikipedia page. The community portal page’s “help out” section categorized this article as needing a stronger lead section. Style states: “a sentence seems clear when its important actions are in verbs (Williams and Colomb).” With this in mind, I restructured some of the already existing information so that the American clothing designer was recognized for involvement in various fields. The sentence places the importance in the verbs. Also, information on his other successful brands was not included in the lead, information that I believe to be important in summarizing Ralph Lauren. I reflected the added information in the lead to a section added to his career summary, which comes later in the article.

Works Cited

Jones, Rebecca. "Finding the Good Argument OR Why Bother With Logic?." Writing Spaces: Readings on Writing. 1. n. page. Print.

Williams, Joseph, and Gregory Colomb. Style: The Basics of Clarity and Grace. 4. Pearson, Print.