Berners-Lee’s Rating System  =  Google

2008.10.15   prev     next

In response to the Large Hadron Collider scare, Tim Berners-Lee, creator of the WWW, wants a rating system for alerting people to the veracity (or lack thereof) of each website on the internet.

Sounds noble. So does prohibiting narcotics. But if you don’t know how, then it’s just not a viable concept.

Fortunately, there is a reliable way to measure the veracity of websites. It’s not perfect, but it’s darn close.

It’s called Google.

Or more precisely, Google’s recursive, link-based, page ranking system.

I think the guys who created Google hit on the one and only reliable, incorruptible way to rate webpages. Maybe it can be improved a tiny bit with some sort of tweak. But is Berners-Lee proposing any such tweak? No. He says, “I’d be interested in different organisations labelling websites in different ways.” Vague enough to be useless, but specific enough to realize his plan is certainly doomed.

If his rating system happens at all (which I doubt), will it be any more objective than Google? Or even as good as Wikipedia, which is a constantly shifting struggle for authority and control?

Can’t wait to see it in action. Should be good for a laugh. I’ll do a Google search on “Berners-Lee rating” every now and then, to see what’s developed.

Update 2011.04.16 — It’s been two-and-a-half years, and I haven’t heard a peep about this rating system. But hey — he just declared web access to be a human right. That’s helpful.