View source for Mormonism and Wikipedia: the Church History That “Anyone Can Edit”

{{Infobox work
| title = Mormonism and Wikipedia: the Church History That “Anyone Can Edit”
| date = 2012
| authors = [[Roger Nicholson]]
| link = https://www.mormoninterpreter.com/mormonism-and-wikipedia-the-church-history-that-anyone-can-edit/
}}
'''Mormonism and Wikipedia: the Church History That “Anyone Can Edit”''' - scientific work related to [[Wikipedia quality]] published in 2012, written by [[Roger Nicholson]].

== Overview ==
The ability to quickly and easily access literature critical of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has been made significantly easier through the advent of the Internet. One of the primary sites that dominates search engine results is [[Wikipedia]], an online encyclopedia that “anyone can edit.” Wikipedia contains a large number of articles related to Mormonism that are edited by believers, critics, and neutral parties. The [[reliability]] of information regarding the Church and its history is subject to the biases of the editors who choose to modify those articles. Even if a wiki article is thoroughly sourced, editors sometimes employ source material in a manner that supports their bias. This essay explores the dynamics behind the creation of Wikipedia articles about the Church, the role that believers and critics play in that process, and the reliability of the information produced in the resulting wiki articles. The fact that this [Wikipedia] article has been stable for months suggests that other Mormons have found the evidence unassailable.1 Access to “Anti-Mormon” Literature: Then and Now Growing up as a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints during the ’60s and ’70s, Author was aware that there was a body of work called “anti-Mormon literature.” This 1. Comment posted by Wikipedia editor “John Foxe,” responding to an LDS editor on the “Three Witnesses” Wikipedia talk page, 27 January 2009. 152 • Interpreter: A Journal of Mormon Scripture 1 (2012) was understood to be a dangerous collection of literature that was capable of destroying testimonies. Encounters Author had with such literature as a young person were usually limited to a few anti-Mormon pamphlets that one might come upon outside a church-sponsored event. It wasn’t easy to become exposed to critical arguments: the literature produced by critics simply wasn’t readily accessible to a young person. Thus Author was unaware of Joseph Smith’s involvement in plural marriage until Author encountered at the BYU Bookstore in 1978 a copy of Fawn Brodie’s No Man Knows My History: The Life of Joseph Smith. Brodie was my first encounter with a truly substantial work that was critical of the truth claims of the Church. As Author browsed through the book, Author found myself integrating some of this new information and mentally tagging it with some degree of skepticism. But that was the late 1970s, and discovering even those few bits of information required some effort. Now youth have access to a quantity of information that is simply astounding. Information on any LDS Church–related topic is available not only on nearest networked computer but also on cell phones. One evening when my family had the missionaries over to dinner, Author asked them what new investigators did after they were taught the Joseph Smith story. Author was told that they went home and googled “Joseph Smith.” By the time the elders returned for their next visit, their investigator had perused a variety of sources containing information about Joseph Smith. Some of this information came from Church-sponsored websites. Some of it, however, came from countercult ministries determined to pull the Church from its foundations. The previously shadowy and mysterious body of anti-Mormon work is now available at the touch of a button, and it is as easy to access as the latest YouTube video. Internet search engines, such as [[Google]], [[Yahoo]], and Bing, place thousands of references at fingertips. When one googles “Joseph Smith,” the search returns approximately Nicholson, Mormonism and Wikipedia • 153 twenty million results in one-tenth of a second. Regardless of how many search results appear, the investigator will usually examine only the ten results that appear on the first page. Therefore, it is the goal of those who wish to spread their message to cause links to their website to appear on the first page of Google results. The closer to the top the information appears, the better the chance that someone will look at their website. For this reason, the Church now expends considerable effort to make sure that positive information appears high in search engine results. A Catholic reporter recently noted: “When you search on Google for ‘Old Testament,’ the first result is from Wikipedia but the second is from LDS.org. Likewise, if you search for ‘church,’ LDS.org appears fourth, ahead of any Catholic entry.” 2 Among all of the search results that may appear, there is one website in particular that dominates. This site will typically appear in the number-one position on a Google search of practically any subject. The site is called “Wikipedia.”

== Embed ==
=== Wikipedia Quality ===
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Nicholson, Roger. (2012). "[[Mormonism and Wikipedia: the Church History That “Anyone Can Edit”]]".
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=== English Wikipedia ===
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{{cite journal |last1=Nicholson |first1=Roger |title=Mormonism and Wikipedia: the Church History That “Anyone Can Edit” |date=2012 |url=https://wikipediaquality.com/wiki/Mormonism_and_Wikipedia:_the_Church_History_That_“Anyone_Can_Edit”}}
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=== HTML ===
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Nicholson, Roger. (2012). &amp;quot;<a href="https://wikipediaquality.com/wiki/Mormonism_and_Wikipedia:_the_Church_History_That_“Anyone_Can_Edit”">Mormonism and Wikipedia: the Church History That “Anyone Can Edit”</a>&amp;quot;.
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[[Category:Scientific works]]