Only a few people in Pakistan recognize the actual value of the knowledge they hold. One can share his knowledge online to spread global awareness of Pakistan and impact a thousand lives. Wikipedia is, without an iota of doubt, of course the best way to make that happen.
Wikipedia: The World of Knowledge
Wikipedia is the universal online encyclopedia that contains the knowledge on almost everything in the world. Its focus is to provide free access to the gain all of the human knowledge available in almost 300 languages.
Have you ever noticed that the puzzle at top of the Wikipedia globe logo isn’t complete? The ultimate reason is that encyclopedia is still in progress. The fact is that Wikipedia has barely begun and it will stay incomplete for many years to come.
Wikipedia and Pakistan
In Pakistan, more than a thousand people visit Wikipedia daily, and more than a million access it monthly. Although it is quite popular source of reference among Pakistani users, Pakistan related topics are not seriously focused on Wikipedia.
A scarce amount of 8,000 edits to English Wikipedia are done from Pakistan from about 3 million edits done monthly.
The question is why? Well, because most of the Pakistani readers are unaware of the easy contribution they can make to Wikipedia.
As a result, Pakistan is dropping numbers than the rest of the countries in the world. Less than 50 out of 20,000 Pakistani articles are considered to be of great value.
Majority of the articles lack consistent information or they are poorly written. In addition, they are awfully short. Apart from that, the best ones are very unique; almost three million people read the article on “Pakistan” each year.
Language is considered is another obstacle. Due to the popularity of browsing in English, it has suppressed our national language i.e. Urdu. Estimates say only 1% of Pakistani readers browse Urdu Wikipedia. Even though people living in Pakistan have the most reliable knowledge of the country, most of the editing is done abroad.
If we compare Pakistan with India, Indian topics are far more reliable and focused. In comparison to Pakistan, India’s Wiki editors tend to emphasize their country far better on web. As a historic example, there are more than 10 articles about the 2008 Mumbai attacks on Wikipedia, but only one article on 2007 Karachi bombing, although both had same casualties.
The poorest exposure can be seen of the ongoing war in northwest Pakistan that resulted in over 50,000 victims and more of the event.
Back Yourself to Contribute to Wikipedia
It holds plenty of significance to comprehend that this is not Wikipedia’s fault. It is because of us, the Pakistani readers and the users who don’t contribute the knowledge of their country despite being the best source of it.
To improve the free source of knowledge database Wikipedia, more than a thousand people from across the globe contribute freely every day. The idea of sharing knowledge for free to everyone is what keeps them all doing so. Furthermore, anyone can make the edits if they have an online access.
People in Pakistan are requested to share their knowledge in this project and let the whole world know about Pakistan.
One can contribute at his own will, as long as your data is reliable and balanced. You can access free help from the existing community members and share your queries with them. It is really important to have the access to free knowledge and to preserve knowledge related to Pakistan. And when you can contribute so easily, backing off, perhaps, is not a great option?
If you too feel the same way about sharing knowledge, it is better to join the task and do it yourself. Though you don’t need any registration, but it is quite easy and secure and it helps you connect with global editors.
This noble cause of spreading a better image of Pakistan is actually an educational and social activity as well as fun to do. So, are you up for it?
Source: Dawn
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