Stallin’ Online

All I ever learned I learned from Wikipedia, an online, collaborative, wiki encyclopedia that for a long time consumed my thoughts. During the months of my infatuation with the project, I spent countless hours reading, correcting, and copyediting articles that grasped my attention — everything from articles about famous literary authors to articles about a whale that exploded in Oregon in 1970 due to a buildup of gas in its stomach. As I edited these articles, I kept the unofficial Wikipedia slogan tucked in the back of my mind — Be bold! — and this philosophy worked splendidly as I edited away. It is when I started applying the motto to my real life that disaster struck. Indeed, expressing “unusual” opinions, although perfectly natural and okay to do online, is hazardous when done in real life. I done learned this the hard way.

One of the main struggles Wikipedia grapples with is its toil to become an unbiased resource, as anyone of any political inclination can edit any article at any time. Thus, when I was working on the article for Joseph Stalin, an “edit war” ensued. A week previous to this incident, I had bought a pro-Stalin book, which — although widespread, overwhelming consensus (of which I am part of) is against Stalin — I thought needed to be represented in the article to maintain an unbiased point-of-view. A few other editors disagreed, but eventually a compromise was settled on: the book would be included in a section titled “criticism” but would be strongly negated. The section still stands today, and, arguably, greatly enhances the article, widening its scope and diversifying its opinion pool. Expressing an unusual opinion online, in this case, had a strong positive outcome, and I was giddy with excitement

I was still feeling high and mighty the next day, and so I walked to school with a smile on my face and a spring in my step. This cloud of happiness lasted throughout the entire day, most notably into my last class, World History, in which, it turns out, we were starting a new unit on the Soviet Union, the country where Stalin happens to be from. As she always did the first day of a new unit, my teacher summarized the topic with broad statements, including “Stalin is one of the worst dictators of all time” and “Stalin slaughtered more than 20 million people” and finally with a rhetorical “I mean, who here really thinks Stalin was a good person?” The Wikipedia slogan “Be bold!” flashed through my mind, and quickly I formed a pro-Stalin case, and raised my hand. And at the end of the year when our report cards came in, I noticed my grade had suffered in her class. I had thought I’d maintained a very consistent quality of work throughout, but that just turns out to be me, apparently.

Jim called me that night to compare grades, and I told him about how she had screwed me over. I told him she was a bitch, a coward, and a moron. I told him about all the stupid things she had done in class, and how she was so goddamn ignorant it almost invoked sympathy. I told him all the terrible things I would do to her if I got the chance. Jim swallowed this all, my ranting, and I thought then how lucky I was to have a friend who listened. Eventually, the conversation ended, and I went to sleep less stressed and angered than I thought I would be.