Wikipedia co-founder to launch rival social media site

copyright brandrepublic.com
by Ben Bold
published October 17, 2006

LONDON - Larry Sanger, the co-founder of Wikipedia, is launching a social media encyclopaedia that will attempt to balance the original's democratic principles, allowing anyone to add content, but with much greater editorial control.

Citizendium (sit-ih-ZEN-dee-um), which will go live in the next few days, will initially be made available to a limited number of content editors and members of the public who apply. It will become available to the masses by the end of the year.

Wikipedia, which hosts about 1.4m entries on subjects ranging from the advent of Western philosophy to the Wonderbra, allows any internet user to write and edit its content. This has led to criticism of its lack of factual reliability and impartiality. Sanger became frustrated by its refusal to bring in more authoritative control and left after its first year.

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