Will Wikipedia Last?

John C. Dvorak, in his post on PCMag.com The Wikification of Knowledge interestingly discusses the survivability of open-edit programs like Wikipedia. Arguing that humans are inherently self-serving, Dvorak claims that the "idealists" behind public programs like Wikipedia will not be able to counter the growing threat of "...[f]ictitious posts, spam, grudge pages, lies, politically motivated opinions, [&] online vandalism..." that is associated with--what Dvorak claims is-- normal social behavior.

Basically, Mr. Dvorak believes that public-collaborative programs are built upon the utopian values of a few idealists, and that as more users get connected, the flow of spam, etc. will be too much for these sites' moderators to handle.

I agree and disagree with Mr. Dvorak. I too believe that Wikipedia is built upon idealistic values, but I think that as Wikipedia becomes more popular the technology protecting it will only become more advanced. Also, Wikipedia benefits from the millions of dollars in donations that users bestow upon the site. This money will certainly be used to either buffer the income of the site's thousands of currently-volunteer editors, or establish an elaborate filter program to help mitigate the threat from spammers.

As a frequent user of Wikipedia, I am skeptic of Mr. Dvorak's skepticism. For me, Wikipedia is here to stay.