Editing a Wikipedia Page – A Beginner’s Experience

Recently, I have been looking to delve into Wikipedia and how the website operates. Growing up, it was always instilled that Wikipedia is not a reliable source. However, I seemed to rely on Wikipedia for useless facts, like movie cast lists and celebrity birthdays (which you can confirm with a simple Google search).

Looking further into the mechanics of Wikipedia, I found that Wikipedia relies on community contributions, but requires citations from reliable sources, prohibits original ideas and research, and requires neutrality. All five pillars and other rules of Wikipedia editing can be found here.

I created a Wikipedia account to try my hand at editing and see what it takes to be a true Wikipedia member. The first order of business was to come up with a topic I know a lot about.

The editing process

As you might know from a few of my posts, aside from media, I have a great passion for food and cuisine. I spend my time absorbing food facts instead of academic information, so I knew I could contribute relevant information to a Wikipedia page, and more importantly, real facts.

A few months ago, I came across the podcast The Nod. They have an episode titled “I Want That Purple Stuff,” which discusses the significance of grape flavor in black culture. They explain what artificial grape flavor is and why it differs from actual grape flavor and smell. The hosts mentioned the naturally occurring compound methyl anthranilate, which is what is used to create the distinct artificial grape flavor.

Taking a look at Wikipedia’s page for Grape Drink, the page is not as detailed as others. It does mention methyl anthranilate being used as flavoring to simulate concord grape flavor. Using my knowledge, I wanted to add that methyl anthranilate is derived from orange blossom, which is why the scent of most grape-flavored products doesn’t smell distinctly of grapes.

I wanted to find an article that I could use as a source to back up the edit, and came across this article by The Fragrance Conservatory, which delves into methyl anthranilate being used for orange flower scents, and also that it is used as flavoring for candy, drinks, and gum.

To see what other editors and Wikipedia veterans might think, I posted my edit idea on the Talk page. Talk pages are spaces where Wikipedia authors and editors can confer.

Although I asked for advice, I didn’t receive any comments from other users. What I did receive, however, was a welcome message from an editor.

I decided to make my edit anyway, as I had a source that I thought related nicely to the page and added a fact that many people may be interested in. Posting an edit was inherently easy, so long as I had a source to reference. Here is a screenshot of my edit to the page.

Assuming the reliable source was enough, I posted it. But my error was soon revealed by getting my edit removed by another editor:

My edit was removed due to the source content. While I thought “often used as a flavoring agent in candy, soft drinks, and chewing gum. When combined with other fruity notes, it can also give a fruity, grape effect” would be enough to fit into the page, it became clear that I needed a better source, one that directly connected the scent of orange blossom (methyl anthranilate) to purple drink.

Although my edit didn’t hit the mark for being Wikipedia-worthy, the experience showed me how Wikipedia editing operates and how specific sources need to be. I focused on a subject that isn’t too high-traffic, and one that I knew I could contribute to. Even then, the moderators were quick to analyze my source and determine it not relevant enough for the page.

My takeaways

This was a bit surprising and reassuring. With Wikipedia’s reputation as a community-run encyclopedia, it builds the belief that all the information provided isn’t as trustworthy as finding the facts yourself. But seeing the effort that goes into source checking has changed my view on its credibility. The thorough process ensures that the Wikipedia community strives to monitor edits effectively, and with my new experience, it will be easier to determine what’s credible and what’s not.