Quotation: Encyclopedia II - Quotation - Quotations and the Internet

Quotation - Quotations and the Internet

Chiefly a text medium in the beginning, the World Wide Web gave rise to any number of personal quotation collections that continue to flourish, even though very few of them seem to facilitate accurate information or correct citation. In June 27, 2003, a sister project of the Wikimedia Foundation called Wikiquote was created as a free online encyclopedia of quotations in every language and it is now the biggest single quote collection in the world.

Interestingly, the increase of written means of informal communication brought about by the Internet has produced the practice of using quotations as personal flags, as in one's own signature block. This is most commonly seen in email messages and Usenet posts, while is almost never seen in blog posts. Quotations are also popular as a user's personal message, a line under the user's nickname in some Instant Messaging clients (and here they often go uncited). In all these cases, quotations are usually included to give a glimpse of the user's personality, to make a statement of their beliefs, or just to spread their memes around.

The sheer bulk of online quotations, combined with ever more efficient search engines, has effectively made the Internet the world's quotation storehouse, encompassing an unprecedented amount of easily and immediately findable quotations. Though matters of accuracy still remain, innovative features such as Amazon.com's Search Inside the Book and Google Print may well serve to alleviate such concerns.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Quotations and the Internet", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki