Wikipedia commentary/Responding to the Critics

The lastest [Kuro5hin article] about Wikipedia prompted quite a few negative comments. Some of these comments were constructive and useful, while others were off the mark. How should we, as a community, respond?

By working on Wikipedia, of course. Larry? has spent quite a bit of time responding of Kuro5hin; good, that's part of his job. A couple of other Wikipedians have joined in. But ultimately, our best response is to keep working on this project, improving the breadth and depth of our articles. We should be thankful for any comments that make good points (problems with current articles, questions about software and data formats), and use them to improve Wikipedia. As for the less-than-useful comments (it's a useless project, there's already Everything2, it'll never work...), don't let them discourage you. Just ignore them. As we expand and shape Wikipedia, we'll demonstrate that such criticisms are empty words. No other response is required. -- STG