Is Wikipedia a Good Resource for Writers?

In short, yes. It is. But, but, everyone says it isn't accurate and should never be used as a source. Yes, everyone does say that. Here's why they're wrong:

Wikipedia was studied by the journal Nature and found to be about as accurate as the Encyclopedia Britannica. If you have experience in researching and disseminating information, you may know that Encyclopedia Britannica is well-respected for its information, but it has as many errors as most other respected sources. Actually, I've seen errors in Nature before as well. You have to expect a certain margin of error, no matter what resource you use.

The publisher of Encyclopedia Britannica admitted on NPR that his publication and Wikipedia have about the same accuracy. Of course, he is now debating the findings in the press. And, that's fine. The test appeared to be a fair study, consisting of a blind comparison of 50 articles from each publication.

I do use Wikipedia as a starting point, and I do think that people who are afraid to read it for fear of inaccuracies are inexperienced writers who don't really understand the dissemination process. I had four years of strenuous training as a journalist, so I don't just look at any fact and assume that it's true. If I can find a fact and then find it backed up somewhere that I trust, then that's a good fact. One of the best things about Wikipedia is that it requires extensive citations. For any piece of information that does not include a citation, there will be a notation mentioning it.

That means that anyone using Wikipedia as a reference can simply look at the referenced material and gauge it's accuracy. The references will be listed at the bottom of each page, and I know that many writers do use those references in their works.

Now, being a writer with a journalistic mind, I did set out to test the site to see how quickly something inaccurate would be cleaned up. About a year ago, I chose a Wikipedia page and edited it, adding in a long diatribe of mostly my opinion on the topic. I did use some fact, which was from a book that I read years ago, but did not cite specific passages or pages. Within hours I received a message thanking me for "experimenting" with the site, but that what I wrote had to be removed. Will most websites do this, or even check their information to make sure that it's accurate? If you're a web writer, you already know the answer to that.

So, why the hysteria about never using Wikipedia? I think a lot of it has to do with writers and editors who haven't read the study and haven't investigated the site to see how accurate it is. Many of them don't understand that disseminating information is just as important as finding it. I have a major client who does not allow Wikipedia to be used at all as a source. They will, however, allow me to use AC as a reference, despite there being no editing to AC stories, and most of the work there being based on opinion and with no citation whatsoever. For that same client, I have been able to use blogs, a forum post and other assorted pages as sources, but never Wikipedia. Why?

Is there a chance that a fact you read on Wikipedia isn't accurate? Certainly. That's what the citations are for. If you don't see a fact backed up, don't use it. But, if you read the first article that I referenced above, you may have seen this quote about the EB, "the longer established encyclopaedia does not claim to be error free." And it's correct- no work, not newspapers, magazines, websites or encyclopedias, claim to be completely free of errors. How many times have you seen something inaccurate in your local newspaper or in a magazine story? It happens.

The key for writers is to disseminate the information the best they can, and never to trust just one source for anything. Wikipedia is a good starting point, just like any other source you run across. The forum post that I mentioned using as a reference? It was about an extremely obscure subject about which little was available on the web. I checked out the writer of the post and looked at her website thoroughly to establish that she actually new what she was talking about. If you're a professional, you will always make sure that what you use as materials is as accurate as possible.

Any source, whether it's Wikipedia, the EB, blogs or anything else should always, always be corroborated by a second source. It doesn't matter how respected the work is or how professional it sounds- if you can't back it up with something, it's too risky. If you can back it up, what does it matter where it originally came from?

Elance Account Changeable

Ok, so earlier this month I decided to break down and buy a pack of Elance connects (used to be called bids, used to be readily available with a paid account). The thing that got to me was that you couldn't jut buy a pack, you had to change your account so that you now get than number every month. I have news about this on two fronts:

1. I got an email saying that my account was about to renew, and that I can change the account at this time if I want to. I don't remember them doing this before the changes, and I'm sure I'd remember because it's highly annoying. Don't get me wrong- it is a good thing to be able to change the account so that you don't have to buy the extra connects every month. But, setting up the accounts this way is still ridiculous. I don't think that draining still more of our time is the best way to go with everyone still mad from the changes.

2. The connects available in a pack are too expensive and don't get you very far. One pack of connects includes 10 for $5. If you're one of the Elance writers, you know how many it takes to get decent gigs. Most of the projects I do there are fairly small, but it does usually take me about 10 bids to get a project. I know that in some of the other Elance categories this isn't true, but from what I've read from other Elance writers, this is actually on the low end of normal. I don't think that bids should be unlimited. That would probably lead to a large number of providers bidding for every single project in the hopes of getting a few of them. Being one of 15 bidders is one thing. Being one of 200 is quite another. But, being given very few bids- sorry, connects- isn't the answer either. Having to buy our connects is outrageous when you consider that we already pay monthly for the privilege of membership.

What's the answer? Throw out the changes. They're stupid. Seriously.

Cheap Glasses Available Online

Zenni Optical sells Rx glasses for $8, including the case!
If you’re a self-employed writer like I am, you know how annoying it is to buy anything vaguely medical. There is a place, though, that sells prescription glasses for just $8. Freaky, but true. Eight dollars buys a complete set of glasses, including the case. That’s less than most people with vision insurance pay for a co-pay. This is a sponsored post, but I think I see new glasses in my immediate future.

Attack of the 1099s

One of the things about being a freelance writer, well, one of the many things, is that you end up writing for so many different people that tax time can get pretty crazy. If you haven't saved money throughout the year for the year-end money grab, there are a lot of ways to maximize deductions, so that usually isn't a problem for me. But, the volume of 1099s can get a little overwhelming.

The first issue is just keeping track of how many you have coming to you and waiting for them all to come in. If one doesn't show up, you then have to remember who it was coming from and contact them about it. If they all show up in time, you then have to keep track of all of the little people who aren't required to send one but that you nevertheless owe taxes for. The combination of the 1099 avalanche and the small project record-keeping is enough to make you want to move to the woods and live on dandelions and wild hamsters.

So, how to make sense of the mess? Well, I use a complex system of proprietary software that allows me to fill out up to 75 pages of income lists and attach pictures of all my clients. I then pay thousands to an accountant that specializes in freelance writers. Just kidding, I just print out everything I need to remember and put it in a big pile. The pile may be large, but my courage in the face of taxes is larger.

Researching Online Casinos

Online casino sites are a huge, huge niche topic right now. I've written countless articles about them, and I think most other web writers have as well. There's a good site for researching a vast number of casinos at once, called Pro360.com. The site looks at 75 different virtual casinos and gives you a quick look at the different features of each. If you need to find just the casinos that allow U.S. players, there's a quick link for those sites. There is also a FAQ section that provides detailed information about online gambling. And, if you are researching the topic for the first time, the beginner's guide is a good place to go for information about virtual casino basics. There's also a page for getting a few important gambling tips that you might need for specialized articles or ebooks, and who knows, you might just decide to use them for your own gambling endeavors. This is a sponsored review.

When Freelance Writing Piles Up

In freelance writing, it's often a case of feast or famine. Some weeks I have little going on besides regulars and a few residual income projects. Other weeks, last this week, I have slammed pretty much beyond capacity. How do you handle it when you're pretty sure that no human can do the amount of work you have?

1. Breathe. Panic is not an option. Keep breathing, and believe you can do it- Little-Engine-That-Could style.

2. Rewards. Break up the work into smaller chunks and give yourself a reward after each one. I'm trying to keep some New Year's resolutions and not opting for food rewards as often. This month it has been YouTube rewards. After each successful increment of the mountain o' work, I give myself license to watch something cool on YouTube before delving back into the pile.



3. Be more realistic. Three Elance projects, one RAC one, three regulars, a PLR package, a Bella article and four blogs probably wasn't the best idea for one week's work. Next week, anyone who can't wait longer for their work, aside from my lovely regulars, will have to stand in line. Three hours of sleep a night isn't making me terribly cheerful.

Internet Advertising Possibilities

I'm old enough to remember the dot com crash in the late 90's, and whatever they said caused it, I believe it was because internet advertising was overvalued. People spent waaaay too much on advertising when the internet just wasn't all that popular yet. Pretty much everyone is online now, but then...not so much. Buying stuff online wasn't as accepted back then either. Use a credit card online? You crazy!

Now, I think things are different enough that internet advertising really is valuable. Advertising online stores, affiliate stuff, informational websites, movies and even TV shows is a worthwhile endeavor. And, The Guardian agrees with me. According to them, internet advertising will soon be bigger than magazine advertising. That will make the internet the third largest advertising market behind TV and newspapers.

Everyone seems to be feeling the internet advertising surge. This lil' blog makes a (very) modest amount through advertising. Many other sites run either Text Link ads, paid banner ads, or other assorted sponsored areas. Sites without paid ads can still make a little through AdSense. And, sites with huge readership can really, really rake it in. If you ever read Perez, um, not that I ever do, you'll probably see the huge TV and movie ads he runs. The larger, background ads reportedly sell for $45,000 a week, and he has other advertising besides those. So, the money is out there to be had. All you really need is the readership.