Everything2 facts for kids
Screenshot of Everything2.com
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Type of site
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General writers site |
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| Available in | English |
| Owner | Everything2 Media LLC |
| Founder(s) | Nathan Oostendorp |
| Website | everything2.com |
| Commercial | No |
| Registration | Required for write access |
| Launched | March 1998 (as Everything1) |
| Current status | Active |
Everything2 or E2 is a website. It lets people make pages about many different things, and some people use it as a diary.
E2 users create pages called nodes and add stuff in writeups. Only logged-in users can create writeups. Only the person who created the writeup or someone who the website owners (called "gods") choose can edit the writeup. On the other hand, on Wikipedia, anyone can edit pages, but on Everything2 only those who can edit the writeup can edit pages.
Everything2 does not require a neutral point of view like Wikipedia does. So, it is possible to have more than one article (writeups) under the same title (node), each by different authors, and presenting different points of view.
History
The predecessor of E2 was a similar database called Everything (later labeled "Everything1" or "E1") which was started around March 1998 by Nathan Oostendorp. The Everything2 software offered more features, and the Everything1 data was twice incorporated into E2: once on November 13, 1999, and again in January 2000.
Everything2 was then hosted by the University of Michigan for a time. Its servers were moved to the nearby Michigan State University in February 2007.
E2 was privately owned by the Blockstackers Intergalactic company, but does not make a profit. Until mid-2007 it accepted donations of money and, on occasion, of computer hardware but no longer does so. The site is not a democracy, and the degree to which users influence decisions depends on the nature of the decisions and the administrators making them. As of January 23, 2012, it was announced that the site had been sold to long-time user and coder Jay Bonci under the name Everything2 Media LLC.
Writeups in E1 were limited to 512 bytes in size. As E2 has expanded, stricter quality standards have developed, much of the old material has been removed, and the membership has become broader in interest, although smaller in number. Many noders prefer to write encyclopedic articles similar to those on Wikipedia (and indeed some actively contribute to both E2 and Wikipedia).
Some write fiction or poetry, some discuss issues, and some write daily journals, called "daylogs." Unlike Wikipedia, E2 does not have an enforced neutral point of view. An informal survey indicates that the user base tends to lean left politically. There are conservative voices as well, however.
Code of behavior
Like other online communities, E2 has a social hierarchy and code of behavior. There is no explicit, written site policy on acceptable behavior, although the usual intolerance for trolling or hatemongering prevails, as is the case with most web-based communities.
Bans have occurred for antisocial and/or insulting behaviour.
Rarely, a noder will request their E2 account be locked, preventing them from logging in. The causes for this are equally varied as the causes for disruptive noders being forcibly locked out, and happens about as often.
Software
E2 is run by the free Everything Engine (ecore), a Perl-based system; its data is stored in a MySQL database.
Media coverage
In 2001, The New York Times cited E2 as an example of an emerging class of autonomous, self-organizing sites. A 2001 column in The Japan Times called E2 "awe-inspiring in its expansiveness and depth" and "a Sim City of knowledge management". In 2003, Guardian Unlimited listed E2 as one of the best collaborative encyclopedias on the Web. E2 was nominated for a 2004 Webby Award for Technical Achievement.
Images for kids
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Founder Nathan Oostendorp in 2012
See also
In Spanish: Everything2 para niños
