Defra have created a wiki for an Environmental Contract. Wiki’s are a collaborative tool in which web users can contribute to the content and help build up a kind of online encyclopaedia. For an organisation, such as a government department, there is the option to restrict who can make changes to the wiki in question. Nobody appears to have told Defra this though and some enterprising individuals have been making some helpful changes.
This page obviously isn’t going to last long so, for posterities sake … click here.
Hat-tip: Devils Kitchen
Update:
Someone at Defra has reverted the pages back to their original state but the good news is that the old revisions are preserved by tagging ?revision=### where ### is a number from 139 downwards. For example: http://wiki.defra.gov.uk/WikiHome/EnvironmentContract?revision=139
[…] Thanks Defra […]
[…] At the time of writing Defra’s failed experiment in being hated less has resulted in the following message: Please note – the Wiki has been “locked” for the time being to prevent editing. Thanks to everyone for their interest so far – do visit again and continue the discussion. In the meantime, you’re welcome to read the comments and materials submitted. […]
Blimey Mrs C is bestest chums with Defra’s Head of Internal Audit. That sort of thing is likely to be her fault…
Oh well! Now when can we get them over for dinner….?
Someone is going to get a boot right in the fork over this. I bet the web admin in question was bricking him(or her)self when they saw what had happened. 🙂
It does not take the work of a genuis to limit the editing to a select few people.
Who if told about a government wiki before it happended, would predict it would get abused?
I would of guessed and I’m sure most people would of as well.