I don't really need to say anything here - Colbert's covered it all:
The video embed system doesn't work so click here to watch it.
This is clearly a program that "gets it." The lines in this piece are almost too good to be true, including:
Wikipedia - The encyclopedia where you can be an authority, even if you don't know what the hell you're talking about.
and
When Wikipedia becomes our most trusted reference source, reality is just what the majority agrees upon.
and, last but not least,
When money determines Wikipedia entries, reality has become a commodity.
It's hard not to laugh, not just because he hits the issues square in the jaw, but because so many folks that play in the SEO sphere do accept payment for what amounts to "Wikilobbying." Thanks for the word, Mr. Colbert, we promise to use it as best we can.
Colbert is a living messiah- I wish he was my father(sorry dad- you would have been in my top ten choices though). In regards to Wikipedia, I would like to supply quotes from two other men that were gods on earth, Mark Twain and Oscar Wilde:
I would rather tell seven lies than make one explanation.- Mark Twain
It is a very sad thing that nowadays there is so little useless information.- Oscar Wilde
LMAO - I'm sure signs have been printed already: Colbert/Stewart 2008!
I'd vote that!
Thanks for the new ammo for SES NY. Don't worry, this time I won't listen to Hagans when it comes to pronunciation. ;)
What the hell, Comedy Central? The stupid video keeps getting stuck on "MotherLoading." I had to open it in IE.
"Colbert saved the elephants!" Somehow if heard out of context that wouldn't make sense...
I got onto Wikipedia during his show, and the page was already locked out. A few minutes later, I looked at the edit logs, and it had pages and pages of edits. Quite remarkable.
Now, if Colbert told his viewers to edit a city's page with "Home of Stephen Colbert". I think it would be interesting to see Wiki react.
What a great video! It has rationalised my thoughts about Wikipedia, now I will go forth and quote Colbert as if his words were my own :D
And big media doesn't accept money for lobbying. Video news release anyone? Political mouthpiece? Cough! (Fox News) Cough!
At least with Wikipedia the independent editor has a chance to participate. When's the last time you got to influence the content of the evening news?
Excellent point jehochman- Wikipedia provides opportunity for the rest of us. Though you have to be careful about looking into the validity of what is supplied, it is refreshing that the information is not filtered through 'the matrix' first before we get to read it. Now we can provide our own version of 'bad news' to people who like bad news.
"Reality has become a commodity". Not just brilliant, but scary, too. :)
Haha, wikipedia closed the "reality" page from being edited. (Protected Talk:Reality: Colbert mention (bot complained about me not providing a reason...) [edit=sysop:move=sysop] (expires 05:13, May 10, 2007 (UTC)))
Thanks for the great post rand! Stephen is hilarious! I had to post at our web hosting blog as well ;-)
hehe seoteam you know rand uses nofollow, right? :p
I've always said the biggest problem with Democracy is that the majority is often wrong. That's why George Bush is our President.
But I thought that 1st time round he didn't actually get a majority?!
;)