Surferpedia is a wiki encyclopedia of surfing that empowers surfers who wish to challenge the way commercial interests distort the message for mass appeal.
Surferpedia is a wiki encyclopedia of surfing that allows anyone to submit information about surfing-related topics. Surfers from all over the world are encouraged to supplement the hegemonic commercial depiction of surf culture with information drawn from their own experience. It therefore empowers surfers who wish to challenge the way commercial interests distort the message for mass appeal. However, it is also inherently subversive, because it necessarily promotes topics based on categorization, instead of commodification.
Of course, the fashion industry’s exploitation of surf culture is itself a phenomenon of surf culture and as such warrants articles devoted to the topic. But, these articles gain no more prominence than any other articles, since access to them depends on their subject matter appearing within other articles, where hypertext enables the reader to access numerous articles from within each article. The commercially driven aspects of surf culture are thus demoted to a level determined by the interests of a broader cross-section of the surfing community.
Each page provides an opportunity to advertise via links to external websites. But, the decision to follow a link is ideally motivated by an informative article rather than through methods employed by advertisers. This raises the profile of grass-roots enterprises relative to the multinational companies currently dominating the market. And with Facebook’s “Like” button displayed above each article, the information is easily shared across networks of like-minded people.
The credibility of Surferpedia articles depends on a peer review system to ensure that articles meet a high standard in terms of relevance and stylistic consistency. Due to the global distribution of the surfing world, central control of the peer review process is not practicable. So, the peer review system is divided into regional groups, whose members are qualified to assess articles, give feedback and organise improvements. Ultimately, Surferpedia depends on the support of those with good reputations within the surfing world. Under their leadership, Surferpedia has the potential to become a clearly structured resource covering all aspects of the surfing world.
