Wikipedia…a Latte Harder than it Looks
This week, I ticked a task off my bucket list, ripped off the bandaid, ventured into muddy waters?…I edited a post on Wikipedia. And for all those novices who haven’t tasted the sweet sweet waters of putting their input on a site who’s main failsafe is to criticize and revise, I’ve taken it upon myself to rehash my Wiki experience.
For anyone unfamiliar with this collaborative site, “Wikipedia is a multilingual free online encyclopedia written and maintained by a community of volunteers through open collaboration and a wiki-based editing system. Its editors are known as Wikipedians.” A definition straight from the horse’s mouth. During the week, I tasked myself with making one edit on a Wikipedia article of my choice. Simple enough…right? What no one tells you about decisions in which the world becomes your oyster is the complete and utter nothing that comes to mind when considering everything. If you ever decide to acclaim the self title of Wikipedian, don’t go flying blind. After much thought and even more rejected suggestions, I fell upon the one thing I could always turn to in tough times. The one thing that would never let me down in a time of need-a great cup of Joe. More specifically, a Caffè latte.
With a new found confidence, and the misconception that my super fandom for espresso shots equated to actual knowledge on the topic of the Italian beverage, off I went, Leaping Into the Great (Wikipedian) Unknown. And for the purpose of never sugarcoating my life experiences, it was downhill from the beginning. If you’ve ever burnt your tongue on your first sip of coffee, you know the pain of one fated sip destroying any enjoyment from all other food and beverage consumed for the remainder of the day. A Latte sipped too hot? A travesty. A Latte that’s just not hot enough, destined to be good but never able to regain the greatness it once held? Devastation. So what is the ideal Latte temperature?
I took to the World Wide Web in search of an answer and found two sites that both agreed: the Best Latte Temperature existed somewhere between 155 and 165 degrees. Optimistic, I packed up my information and brought my sources to the Wikipedia talk page. I OBVIOUSLY wouldn’t need input with this PERFECT addition to the Latte wikipedia page, but for good measure, I created my post and released my first Wikipedia comment into the world of far more experienced editors. I had done it. I was the Goldilocks of drinking Lattes.
After two days quickly passed with no comment or suggestions to change my edit. I decided it was time to bring my discoveries to the major leagues. I clicked that article edit button and officially inputted my post. The world truly was my oyster…until approximately 10 minutes after when my post was ripped from the page by none other than …
MrOllie. Now do I have any idea who this MrOllie is? Not a clue. But the fact remained. MrOllie had tore away my Wikipedian patch, and all that remained was the sting. It wasn’t until the initial discouragement wore off that I realized the rejected post was entirely my own fault. My sources were not reliable.
However, if at first you don’t succeed, sulk about it a little bit and then try again. I had recently become obsessed with a social media phenomena, the Layered Latte. A type into the search bar and two clicks later, I had found a New York Times and Nature Communications article backing up the Layered Latte.
After a part 2 Wikipedia turnaround, and much more anticipation around if my post would actually remain seated at the left hand of the Latte picture, let’s just say, while I applaud all active Wikipedians, this will be both my first and last edit on this collaborative site. There is definitely a feeling of responsibility for giving others credible information that I appreciate with this site, and Wikipedia gives a peak into what a future could look like when a bunch of Average Joes hold each other accountable for presenting the right facts about a Cup of Joe. Hopefully there’s an article on Wikipedia for how to cure exhaustion.
