I did my midterm project (http://wikipedia-structure.pbwiki.com/) on the structure of Wikipedia. I did not want to include this essay in my project, but I want to post it anyway for my blog post; it captures a lot of my thinking on the subject. Wikipedia was the first website named on Time Magizene’s article on the Web 2.0, I think Wikipedia embodies a lot of what is new and changing about media, such popularity, accessibility, and creation by users.

For my midterm project I would like to analyze Wikipedia. Even if you believe that it is not a reliable source, the fact remains that Wikipedia has had an enormous impact on the world. Wikipedia is an instant way to access any information that you could possibly be looking for. It is an indexed internet. The social implications and impacts of Wikipedia are also very widespread. There have been controversies regarding information posted on individual's pages as well as countless arguments about whether or not Wikipedia is a credible information source.

For my midterm project, I'd like to analyze the structure of wikipedia. Both Nelson and Bush had ideas about software with a structure like that of Wikipedia, and I would examine how Wikipedia both approaches their respective visions, yet is also different from each. Furthermore, I would examine why Wikipedia might be separate from the supposably optimal models that these scientists foresaw. Could Wikipedia be improved along the lines they suggest? Or, is the structure of Wikipedia actually more practical than what they wrote about?