User:Riffraffselbow/Stereotypes of highly commited wikipedia editors

This is copied directly from a mainspace article of the same title; thought it was too funny to be Speedy'd with no memory of it.

In a clear indication of the extent to which Wikipedia has permeated the popular consciousness of the developed world, the stereotype of a highly committed Wikipedia editor is now quite commonly understood. That some individuals consider the unusually persistent editor to be a humorous idea is demonstrated by the fact that this concept has even been discussed in mainstream, profit-seeking media.

Whether it is a sub-set of the apparently humorous idea of a individual who spends large amounts of time with their computer, or merely a observation that editing highly obscure articles is relatively useless to general society, enough humour has been found in the concept of a wiki-editing subculture that this comic idea has persisted for a number of years.

The perceived Antithetical nature of Wiki-editors and Wiki-vandals The persistence of humour relating to those who work on Wikipedia is perhaps partly influenced by the phenomenon of non-editors concluding that they have very different beliefs about Wikipedia, and thus enjoying a virtual 'war' with the editors. It has been commonly noted that this may be also be a key motivation behind Wikipedia "vandalism."

For those who appreciate the humour of particularly committed Wikipedia enthusiasts, further laughter is often attributed to the fact that the correspondence of Wikipedia editors is often stereotypes as being extremely prudish in its attitude to even the cleanest, most widely acclaimed styles of humour. Another source for mirth may be that humours wikipedia vandal often appear to be more socially adept, by typically accepted standards than the editors themselves. For this reason, casual viewers of such 'Wikipedia-wars' will generally find themselves supporting the humourous vandal, rather than the Wikipedia editor. The Wikipedia editor is usually in a position of superior power, given their greater knowledge of the mechanics of Wikipedia, however this practical power has been consistently observed to merely cast the unusually persistent Wikipedia editor as a dislikable symbol of power, the internet's equivalent of characters from 'Scrooge' to 'Mr Burns' within other mediums and literary traditions.