Wikipedia is great for finding biographical and historical information on a specific subject and person. However, it’s not ideal for finding real-time data. That’s where social media tools like blogs, Twitter, and Facebook fill in the gap. By following the social media accounts of a friend or celebrity, you can keep up with their latest escapades. Combining real-time information with the historical information available at places like Wikipedia has been hard to come by, though. And even then, design and functionality has hurt many great aggregation tools and wikis. That’s why we find Jockipedia so interesting. On the surface, it’s a wiki on professional athletes. Under the hood though, it’s a social media database done right. Jockipedia, which just launched, claims it is “the definitive source for Athletes’ First-Person Communication.” Immediately, it comes across as different than a normal wiki. It profiles

3,000+ athletes in a variety of sports. Users contribute not only information like player biographies, their team, and their key stats, but places a strong emphasis on their social media presence. Take a look at Dwight Howard’s Jockipedia page for example: For athletes using Twitter, it displays their most recent tweets and displays a tag cloud that shows what interests that specific athlete the most, while providing the biographical information of Wikipedia. Essentially, it acts like a social media database and aggregate, providing solid information from multiple sources. However, whether it can grow and sustain a userbase that will constantly contribute to Jockipedia (it is a wiki, after all) will determine whether this project will succeed. Reviews: Facebook , Twitter , Wikipedia Tags: Jockipedia , wikipedia

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Jockipedia: A Social Media Database of Pro Athletes