Thursday, September 24th, 2009 5:26 am by
Paul Wehage 
Print this page Like it or not, it looks as if we’re going to find out. Meet Google Sidewiki, a new toolbar extension which allows people surfing the web to add “comments” about the web pages that they are visiting, and which also ties in blog content, and “other relevant sources” right onto… visitors’ views of your web page. All of this without you necessarily knowing that it’s even happening, since you have to have the Google Toolbar installed to see this content.
While this might be a good idea, the possibilities for abuse seem quite apparent to me. All it would take would be a couple of blog posts and some drive-by, Wikipedia-style vandalism to completely trash somebody’s website… and perhaps without the owner ever knowing that it’s even happened.
So, good idea? Bad idea? What is the take on this?
I have to agree here in your central point that it’s gameable. It rewrites one of the core rules of the Internet, which is that you can’t write on other organization’s pages without permission. Even Wikipedia follows this rule, though loosely: administrators can block people (that is, revoke the permission to edit) if they cause trouble.
Your headline’s misleading, though: Sidewiki is neither a search engine nor a wiki. It’s like Twitter or blogs, or anything else, just Sidewiki is on everyone else’s page. Sidewiki lacks the virtues of a wiki: it lets everyone edit (that is, add posts) without letting everyone remove garbage. Google just assumes that up-or-down votes on each post will sort everything out. Can you tell where this is heading?
I don’t see Sidewiki as being particularly useful or ground-breaking, mostly because it just emulates a tool that’s already available: blogs. It is not a wiki, it’s just mini-blogs splashed over other people’s sites. If I wanted to read blog entries, I’d use Google’s existing blog-search tool.
I certainly hope that Google will allow site owners to opt out.
Remember the Big Fuss that Jimbo made about that gimmick site that pasted its frame over Wikipedia (or any) content?
That was Modernista.com. What a hoot that was. I’m sure Jimbo’s at least a little bit rattled over the possibilities of this Google Sidewiki. Some information is REALLY going to want to be free!
Fear not. I am already conducting an experiment to measure the pervasiveness of this new Sidewiki tool. I should have results within a month.
Wiki Nelson says:
“Mammas, don’t let your babies grow up to be sidekicks”
Okay, so I’ll be a sidewinder, instead …
Veni, Vidi, Wiki
Jon
Oh, hey, they have a linky thingy, too!
Just by way of following up further developments and criticisms, here’s a link to the The Wikipedia Review thread on Google Sidewiki.