Sustainable Blog

Today’s Internet users are terrorized by an invisible threat, more dangerous than Al-Queda, even more dangerous than cobras. That threat is uncertainty.

We are drowning in information: sixty billion web pages scattered randomly about the online universe. In such a chaotic environment, none of us really know which sources to believe. Thankfully, Google’s latest project, code-named Knol, promises to provide us with an oasis of consistency and safety.

“It’s just a Wikipedia clone,” you say? Not at all. In fact, all-American Google Knol may finally put an end to that communist propaganda tool known as the Wiki.

Wikipedia prides itself as “the encyclopedia that anyone can edit.” Unfortunately, that “anyone” includes evildoers. Do you really want evildoers tampering with the truth? Or how about those flip-flopping scientists, who can’t even decide whether light is a particle or a wave? No thanks, Wikipedia.

Fortunately, the brilliant minds at Google have devised a patriotic solution to the Wiki problem, one that ensures the correct viewpoints are emphasized. Where Wikipedia runs on collaboration and compromise, Google Knol celebrates independence and democratic ideals.

This is how it works. First, a Knol user writes an article on the topic of their choosing. They can write it alone, or collaboratively if they prefer. When the article is completed, it is added to a database with other users’ articles on the same topic. Everyone is asked to vote on the article they like best.

The most popular articles (or Knols) are automatically promoted by the system. The least popular Knols are banished to the last page of the search results, effectively hidden from public view.

Knol’s elegant system contains multiple layers of defense against dangerous information:

• First, the Content Policy ensures that no hateful or violent topics are discussed. Thankfully, these subjective designations are made at the sole descretion of Google employees, because if the rules were spelled out in advance, then evildoers could use them to game the system–or even worse, they might follow the rules in an attempt to trick us.
• Second, the Knol voting system will prevent fringe viewpoints from infecting the majority.
• And finally, the nucular option: Google’s secret search algorithm. With Google controlling almost 90% of the world’s Internet searches, they can protect web users from accidentally stumbling upon bad Knols. “Do no evil” is their unofficial policy, after all, and what could be less evil than fighting evil?

Google’s Knol takes the guess-work out of online learning, and bring order to the chaos of independent publishing. They obviously have our best interests at heart. So if they choose to show Adsense ads next to the articles, and claim 20% of the revenue for themselves, I say it’s money well-earned.

Goodbye, uncertainty! I, for one, welcome our new Google Knol-edge lords.