This website uses cookies.

By clicking the "Accept" button or continuing to browse our site, you agree to first-party and session-only cookies being stored on your device to enhance site navigation and analyze site performance and traffic. For more information on our use of cookies, please see our Privacy Policy.

  1. Home
  2. Journals
  3. American Economic Review
  4. May 2012
  5. Is Wikipedia Biased?

Is Wikipedia Biased?

  • Shane Greenstein
  • Feng Zhu
American Economic Review
vol. 102, no. 3, May 2012
(pp. 343-48)
Download Full Text PDF

Abstract

This study empirically examines whether Wikipedia has a neutral point of view. It develops a method for measuring the slant of 28 thousand articles about US politics. In its earliest years, Wikipedia's political entries lean Democrat on average. The slant diminishes during Wikipedia's decade of experience. This change does not arise primarily from revision of existing articles. Most articles arrive with a slant, and most articles change only mildly from their initial slant. The overall slant changes due to the entry of articles with opposite slants, leading toward neutrality for many topics, not necessarily within specific articles.

Citation

Greenstein, Shane, and Feng Zhu. 2012. "Is Wikipedia Biased?" American Economic Review, 102 (3): 343-48. DOI: 10.1257/aer.102.3.343

JEL Classification

  • L82 Entertainment; Media
  • L86 Information and Internet Services; Computer Software