In the realm of the internets, it seems that WikiCU has come to a crossroads — with the site’s owner graduating in May and most of its editors being Columbia alumni, the future of WikiCU will depend on either a “marketing strategy” of some some sort, or on someone else taking the reigns. While Columbia itself wants nothing to do with the site for liability reasons, the site’s most dedicated editors are considering handing it over to some hopefully interested organization, or possibly recruiting moderators from campus, CULPA style. Bwog, meanwhile, is honored to have some mention in the open dialogue (which somehow becomes more amusing with each new rebuttal, if you’d like to read for yourself).
On a similar note, Collegewikis has been around for awhile, but the Columbia Wiki seems to be the place to bring pressing questions (all seventeen of them) such as, “Any recommendations for quiet restaurants where one can take one’s mother?” or cheesy surveys regarding everyone’s favorite professor. Granted, users have to go through a somewhat annoying registration-and-confirmation process before being able to see any of the pages, and the scope of articles doesn’t come close to WikiCU, which has been around since spring of 2007.
While discussing the not-so-rivaling Wiki pages on the Bwog email threads, however, one staffer brought to our attention that College Wikis is in fact a “New Business Concept” entry into a Pace University entrepreneurship contest, and belongs to Harvard/Stanford Business School graduate Joe DiPasquale. His site rivals a couple of other Columbia-connected projects, including “the first truly environmental superstore” and a payment-receiving service for business owners. Somehow, those two (or the “Beer Pong Cooling Rack,” even) seem more useful/destined for success than a flimsy Wiki site, but hey, we just might be biased.
8 Comments
@jiabao I, too, have recently become more enamored of WikiCU now that it’s winter break.
@Joe Hey – i’m the “joe” you speak of who started collegewikis.com.
We’re working on our registration process to make it much easier, and also have some pretty cool features that are about to launch.
If you guys have any suggestions on how i could make the columbia wiki better, just let me know. I work 24/7 to make it the best it can be, and am open to any suggestions. (suggestions [at] college wikis dot com)
@ttan I spend far too much time on WikiCU as well, adding sarcastic comments and pithy remarks.
@Absentminded I spend far too much time adding articles. I spent a weekend looking up info about Columbia’s past capital campaigns: http://www.wikicu.com/Category:Fundraising_campaigns
And then spent the last week putting up info about various faculty and alumni awards http://www.wikicu.com/Category:Faculty_awards http://www.wikicu.com/Category:Alumni_awards
@hey bwog this is your chance to get some real world media experience! seriously! media isn’t about content. media is about targeting and swallowing smaller media outlets until you’re rupert murdoch! this is your chance, hurry hurry!
@Hipters Suck... Anyone know what the deal is with the roaming “Hipster protest”? They just wandered into Butler with a bunch of posters.
@Yeah It’s a Philo thing, an anti-hipster coalition. Good for them, too. Bloody hipsters…
@coogan long live wikicu as a place where people can put asinine information! reaganauts and other conservatives de damned, information wants to be free!