Wikipedia:Wikipedia Signpost/2016-05-28/In the media



The perils of Wikipedia's monopoly
In The Times Literary Supplement, Peter Thonemann reviews (May 25) Jack Lynch's You could look it up—The reference shelf from ancient Babylon to Wikipedia and looks at the changes the IT revolution has wrought in the world of reference works.

Thonemann notes that printed concordances for classical Greek and Latin literature—"lists of all the words appearing in a given text" that were "the products of years of human drudgery"—have been "entirely superseded by two or three online databases", even though the latter are still imperfect enough (for now ...) to warrant an occasional consultation of their printed predecessors.

And in the course of his review of Lynch's book, he adds some comments of his own about Wikipedia, partly informed by his correspondence with Wikipedian :

Thonemann then proceeds to give an example of the adverse effects of Wikipedia's monopoly: the answer to the question, "which English-language novel has sold the most copies?"

Thonemann cites numerous mainstream media articles that appear to have lifted the information from Wikipedia—"the BBC as well as ... the Daily Telegraph, the Daily Mail, the Guardian and the Independent, none of which have cited Wikipedia as a source", noting that the factoid has even entered popular history books.

Thonemann concedes that this individual case may not be particularly important, but asserts that it illustrates both the benefits and perils of Wikipedia.

Yet it's impossible to turn back time, Thonemann argues, finishing his piece with the suggestion that academics should bite the bullet and "spend a bit more time editing Wikipedia ourselves."

Wikipedians' fragility
Mic (May 18) and Motherboard (May 17) discuss the recent email by a Wikipedian, sent to the Wikimedia-l mailing list, stating that his recent interactions on Wikipedia had left him contemplating suicide.

Ruth Reader, writing in Mic, quotes MIT professor and psychologist Sherry Turkle:

In a discussion in the Wikipedia Weekly Facebook group, one Wikimedian asserted that "Wikipedia is particularly attractive to people who deal with a mental issue", arguing that for many, it has a restorative effect and brings "a sense of self-worth". This is undoubtedly true in many cases, yet it is surely a two-edged sword: the fact that contributors dealing with mental issues may lack empathy can only contribute to a climate that many perceive as toxic, while the effects of this climate are bound to be felt most acutely by those who are already struggling with a propensity for depression, obsessive-compulsive behaviour and similar challenges in their lives.

The people contributing to Wikipedia are its most precious asset.

''Note: The National Suicide Prevention Hotline is toll-free in the US and available 24/7 at 1-800-273-8255. suicide.org has a list of international suicide hotlines, including Australia, Canada, the UK and many other countries across the world. To report any threats of harm or self-harm on Wikipedia, contact emergency@undefinedwikimedia.org.''

See also this week's Signpost op-ed, "Journey of a Wikipedian", which touches on related topics.

Street Sharks
On Geek.com, a hoaxer has come forward to confess that he seeded spurious information about the Street Sharks cartoon series on the Internet: How I used lies about a cartoon to prove history is meaningless on the internet (May 26):

The hoaxer says that "for years, IMDB, Amazon, and numerous smaller sites were unintentionally hosting my creative writing" and asserts "The only place that's still entirely accurate is Wikipedia, hilariously enough." However, the story has been picked up by Gawker (May 26), Vox (May 27) and others, with writers drawing parallels to Wikipedia hoaxes like Olimar The Wondercat and "the guy who used Wikipedia to turn himself into an Aboriginal god". (May 26–27)



In brief

 * Thumbnails for Wikipedia food results: The SEM Post notes that Google has added thumbnail graphics for food-related Wikipedia results. (May 27)
 * North Korea: CNN among others reports that according to activists, helicopter drones have been delivering SD cards and flash drives containing "Western and South Korean films, TV shows, music and internet-free access to Wikipedia" to North Koreans—"media that will help get outside information to North Koreans, who are kept behind an invisible wall that cuts them off from outside influence." (May 25)
 * Wikipedia quoted in IRS hearing: The Washington Post reports that a Republican congressman quoted Wikipedia during an IRS hearing. (May 25)
 * Yuri Kochiyama: In an article titled "Wikipedia editors scrub references to activist's bin Laden praise following Breitbart article", Breitbart notes that there was a spate of edits to the biography of activist Yuri Kochiyama on May 19, resulting from the fact that Kochiyama was commemorated by a Google Doodle that day. By May 20, quotes illustrating Kochiyama's 2003 support for Osama bin Laden, previously not mentioned in the biography, had been added to it, expanded, deleted, and then restored in a shortened version. (May 20)
 * 15th birthday of the Spanish Wikipedia: El Mundo (Spain) marks the 15th birthday of the Spanish Wikipedia, titling its article "Wikipedia y las visiones de Borges". (May 20)


 * The DAO: Cryptocoinsnews.com reports on edit wars over Ethereum-based crowd fund The DAO. (May 19)


 * The misspelled encyclopedia: German Stern magazine profiles Wikipedia parody site Wikipeetia, "the misspelled encyclopedia", noting that Wikipedia itself contains its fair share of mistakes as well ... and had "best not be visited at all if you really want to know something for sure". (May 18)


 * No Obama assassination plot on Wikipedia: Gawker's Ashley Feinberg has penned another round-up of deleted Wikipedia articles. (May 18)


 * Long: The Independent and The Washington Post were among news media picking up a Wikimedia Foundation blog post about the English Wikipedia's longest featured articles. (May 16/18)


 * WISE Women: The UIC News Center reports on WISE WIKI, a project managed by UIC's Women in Science and Engineering (WISE) program and designed to bridge Wikipedia's gender gap. (May 17)


 * #WikiTIM: Telecompaper.com, la Repubblica and universita.it report on a joint project by Telecom Italia and the University of Urbino "aimed at writing and rewriting Wikipedia entries with the help of the University of Urbino Carlo Bo. The project, dubbed #WikiTIM, will see the partners collaborate with various Italian universities to boost the development of digital literacy in Italy." (May 16/19)


 * Rob Zombie: The A.V. Club covers Loudwire's "Wikipedia: Fact or Fiction" instalment on Rob Zombie. Other recent episodes of the series have focused on Richard Patrick and Lzzy Hale. (May 16)

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