As previously reported by Tetridia ("Wikipedia - 100% reliable source?"), Wikipedia will be launching a new strategy indented to improve its reliability. The new structure involves the online encyclopaedia’s text being edited by "accredited editors", instead of the instant editing being used at present.

In a recent interview with the Times Online, Wikipedia's founder has affirmed that the site's original premise will not be sacrificed for accuracy and reliability, users can still make the changes they feel necessary, however they would have to be registered for at least 4 days before making any changes.

Jimmy Wales believes, that these new modifications will decrease the number of wrong input information on the site; " There are no plans to restrict anybody's status (...) anyone can make an edit, but if the user hasn't  been registered for at least 4 days, then it would have to be approved by someone who has been registered  before going live".

As for Wikipedia's new competitor Citizendum which runs a very similar policy, the mogul denies that these new actions are a response to their competitor, which admits entries from the public but are edited by an expert panel, before being published online.

At the moment, the company is also facing a new challenge, the launch of its own search engine, which would involve users with website ranking, scheduled for December this year. Search Wikia is the name, and Mr Wales refutes that he intends to rival Google, "when we launch search Wikia, people will probably expect it to be a fully fledged Google - it won’t be!"

Altogether, search Wikia seems to be following its sister company's footsteps as a place in the online world where users have more control, if users rate the websites and the order in which they appear, that would definitely give cybernauts the power to exclude unnecessary sites from our search results. As for Wikipedia the future might look bright, it is not the most reliable source, but it will always give a good base start to any research.

© Tetridia