As one may be able to tell based on the content of the blog, I play video games.
One of the games (series) I play is the MLB The Show baseball video game series. This series combines my love of the sport and my love of games into one.
Because the game isn’t uber popular like other sports games (NBA 2K, Madden, College Football 25) I figured that there’d be an opportunity for me to further inform fans on the latest game.
I went to the Wikipedia article MLB The Show 24, and found that it hasn’t been updated in quite a while. I figured I’d get started on the editing process and update and clarify a couple things.
In this article, I added two things.
The first thing added was the fact that Toni Stone, who was newly introduced to the game this year, is the first ever woman player to be added to the MLB The Show video game series, with a reference article to go with it. This was (still is) a big deal when the game came out, so I felt it was important to add this fact.
The second thing I added was the fact that the game has since been updated to include new Negro Leagues legends Andy Cooper, Rap Dixon, and Bill Foster, with a reference to the official tweet by the official MLB The Show account.
When it comes to the talk page, I wasn’t unable to put notice in enough time, so the talk page only looks like this:
Because of how small the article is, and the niche nature of the game and the fanbase, I don’t expect there to be any pushback or really even discussion about the edits made.
Either way, I think that my contributions are positive, bringing in important context and also updating facts about the game to anyone interested in playing it or learning more about it.
When it comes to the experience and what I’ve learned, there’s a lot. I didn’t realize that the edits actually NEED a source and it isn’t just recommended.
Actually, I didn’t even know accounts existed. And you needed an account to edit articles.
This entire process has really taught me one thing: that Wikipedia should be viewed differently.
While people shouldn’t singlehandedly use Wikipedia articles as the end all be all, it’s a great starting tool. In school and growing up, we were (I was and my classmates, at least) taught this.
Being forced to reference articles, tweets, etc. creates a great centralized system where people can learn, but also fact check what they just learned with the article referenced with that fact.
That’s why it’s important for facts to be referenced; if they’re not, then people are rightly skeptical of what they read. Don’t view Wikipedia as a primary source; view it as the road you’re on to get to your destination.
Now that I’ve gone through the process of editing and learning what it’s like, this has given me a much more positive view on the process and Wikipedia as a whole.
Leave a Reply