Digital Do-gooding

MINNEAPOLIS - When the Interstate 35W bridge over the Mississippi River collapsed, John Warkel heard about it on the radio while sitting at his computer. The Eagan, Minn., high schooler wasn't sure which bridge was at the center of the Aug. 1 tragedy, so he did a Web search. He ended up at a familiar site, the online encyclopedia Wikipedia (

» READ MORE: www.wikipedia.org

).

The short entry had been updated just seconds earlier with a sentence noting that the span had collapsed. But Warkel noticed a problem: The anonymous user who added it had not included a citation.

"It looked liked the person didn't really know what they were doing," Warkel recalled. "You have to cite a source; you can't just put updated information."

So Warkel did what he has done many times at Wikipedia and revised the entry to improve it - this time, by adding a reference that linked to a news Web site. The teen stayed up late that night to update the site many more times as news developed.

On a Web whose forums are increasingly populated by know-it-alls, trolls, and put-down artists, it's refreshing to come across Internet users such as Warkel who devote their spare time - often anonymously - to do the online equivalent of community service.

Just like Kevin McCoy, a freelance stagehand in Grand Rapids, Minn., who also worked tirelessly to edit Wikipedia's bridge entries for accuracy. And Jason Safoutin, a freelance journalist in Buffalo, who pitched in at the site Wikinews (www.wikinews.org) to write about the breaking story.

The bridge collapse brought their efforts to light, but it was not the first or last subject that prompted them to make similar contributions.

They embody the spirit of wiki, which are collaborative sites founded on the premise that anyone can contribute content and that others will police it for accuracy. It is information for the people by the people, with Wikipedia being the ubiquitous example.

But why do people such as Warkel, McCoy and Safoutin do it?

There's little glory. After all, the most-read pages with all the information rarely credit the contributors. Visitors have to click on history links to see who did what, and even then anonymous user names are typically found, requiring further clicks for more information, if any.

It is selfless work.

But it is an easy way to volunteer, said McCoy, 26, whose real-world profession takes him on tours around the world.

"I give as much to Wikipedia as I want to or can; there's no expectation," he said. "For the past five years, I've lived in hotels in different countries and states, and I've always wanted to volunteer, but my job has never allowed me to. But doing stuff for Wikipedia is easy, because I do it from wherever I am, and as much as I can or as much as I want to - any time I can get an Internet connection."

McCoy added that he has been motivated to contribute to Wikipedia for more than three years because its community of contributors is so welcoming.

In Safoutin's Wikinews bio, he says simply: "I love news, and I hope my contributions make a difference."

But it is more than that for the aspiring journalist, 26, who has never been paid for the up to four articles he writes each day for Wikinews, which focuses on current events. A belief in neutral journalism and what the wiki model portends also drive him to provide his virtual public service.

"News happens everywhere around everyone, and anyone who has insight to an event can be a reporter," he explained by e-mail. "Wikinews shows that whether you are a qualified journalist who went to school for the subject or not, anyone can report the news. I believe this is the future of news reporting."

Warkel, 16, said it made him feel good to contribute to Wikipedia. Reflecting his love for sports, including playing pickup basketball with buddies, his regular contributions tend to involve Minnesota's professional sports teams.

Yes, his wiki work essentially is anonymous. But he said he knows what he has contributed when he updates a stat about a Twins player or adds a reference for a breaking news story, and he can tell his friends about it.

There is also a certain amount of pride in updating Wikipedia on the cusp of breaking news, Warkel confessed, as he did for the bridge collapse.

"It's kind of cool to be one of the first people on there," he said.

That is one of the many ways of wiki.