Wikipedia:Wikipedia Signpost/2015-09-09/In the media: Difference between revisions
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==='''Calling all scientists!'''=== |
==='''Calling all scientists!'''=== |
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{{Signpost filler image|image=File:Wikipedia Science Conference - 2015-09 - Andy Mabbett - 03 (cropped).JPG|size=290px|caption=Dame [[Wendy Hall]] at the Wikipedia Science Conference}} |
{{Signpost filler image|image=File:Wikipedia Science Conference - 2015-09 - Andy Mabbett - 03 (cropped).JPG|size=290px|caption=Dame [[Wendy Hall]] at the Wikipedia Science Conference}} |
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Prompted by the recent [https://wikimedia.org.uk/wiki/Wikipedia_Science_Conference Wikipedia Science Conference] in [[London]], ''[[Nature (journal)|Nature]]'' interviewed Martin Poulter, an organizer of the conference, concerning Wikipedia's new outreach to scientists and the reason why they're not embracing the recent call to action. Poulter believes that scientists are deterred by the idea of anyone being able to edit Wikipedia and that because they do not trust it as a reliable source, they are less likely to get involved: |
Prompted by the recent [https://wikimedia.org.uk/wiki/Wikipedia_Science_Conference Wikipedia Science Conference] in [[London]], ''[[Nature (journal)|Nature]]'' [http://www.nature.com/news/wikipedians-reach-out-to-academics-1.18313 interviewed] Martin Poulter, an organizer of the conference, concerning Wikipedia's new outreach to scientists and as to the reason why they're not embracing the recent call to action. Poulter believes that scientists are deterred by the idea of anyone being able to edit Wikipedia and that because they do not trust it as a reliable source, they are less likely to get involved: |
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{{signpost pull quote|"A lot of academics have the impression that because anyone can edit, that means it’s a Wild West, but Wikipedia is a community of ultra-pedants who care about facts being right."}} |
{{signpost pull quote|"A lot of academics have the impression that because anyone can edit, that means it’s a Wild West, but Wikipedia is a community of ultra-pedants who care about facts being right."}} |
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Poulter also believes that scientists and academics aren't getting involved in the process due to the fact that many of them have busy lives and |
Poulter also believes that scientists and academics aren't getting involved in the process due to the fact that many of them have busy lives and are deterred by the "petty" time-wasting conversations and edit-wars. (Sept. 7) <small>[[User:Tortle|T]]</small> |
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You can read ''Nature'''s article [http://www.nature.com/news/wikipedians-reach-out-to-academics-1.18313 here] and one by ''Inverse'' [https://www.inverse.com/article/5982-wikipedia-editors-ask-scientists-to-factcheck-academic-content here] (Sept. 7) <small>[[User:Tortle|T]]</small> |
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===In brief=== |
===In brief=== |
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{{Signpost filler image|image=File:Wikipedia-logo-v2-ta.svg|size=200px}} |
{{Signpost filler image|image=File:Wikipedia-logo-v2-ta.svg|size=200px}} |
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*'''Wikipedia can be used to detect search trend data''': ''The Stack'' recently [https://thestack.com/cloud/2015/09/09/wikipedia-anne-hathaway-open-source-web-trends-japan-research/ reported] |
*'''Wikipedia can be used to detect search trend data''': ''The Stack'' recently [https://thestack.com/cloud/2015/09/09/wikipedia-anne-hathaway-open-source-web-trends-japan-research/ reported] a new Japanese [http://arxiv.org/pdf/1509.02218v1 study]. The study shows an example where a page view statistics graph of the [[Anne Hathaway]] article on Wikipedia will closely mimic a [[Google Trends]] graph of searching "Anne Hathaway" on Google. It was decided that this method can be used to estimate search statistics for less popular subjects not covered by Google Trends. <small>[[User:Tortle|T]]</small> |
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*'''Politics and religion''': ''[[The New York Observer]]'' was the latest publication to do a [http://observer.com/2015/09/the-most-edited-wikipedia-pages-are-for-these-controversial-people-and-topics/ round-up] of the most edited Wikipedia pages. (Sept. 8) <small>[[User:Jayen466|AK]]</small> |
*'''Politics and religion''': ''[[The New York Observer]]'' was the latest publication to do a [http://observer.com/2015/09/the-most-edited-wikipedia-pages-are-for-these-controversial-people-and-topics/ round-up] of the most edited Wikipedia pages. (Sept. 8) <small>[[User:Jayen466|AK]]</small> |
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*'''Embattled President''': In ''[[Slate.com|Slate]]'', [[University of Iowa]] Professor [[Kembrew McLeod]] [http://www.slate.com/articles/life/education/2015/09/university_of_iowa_names_new_president_no_experience_no_ideas_flubbed_his.html writes about] the embattled incoming UI President Bruce Harreld, who has come under fire for his error-filled resume and complete lack of higher education experience. At an introductory talk and Q&A, which McLeod [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S5S5ZXWxc98 posted on YouTube] in the category "comedy", Harreld had a contentious discussion with one UI alum. |
*'''Embattled President''': In ''[[Slate.com|Slate]]'', [[University of Iowa]] Professor [[Kembrew McLeod]] [http://www.slate.com/articles/life/education/2015/09/university_of_iowa_names_new_president_no_experience_no_ideas_flubbed_his.html writes about] the embattled incoming UI President Bruce Harreld, who has come under fire for his error-filled resume and complete lack of higher education experience. At an introductory talk and Q&A, which McLeod [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S5S5ZXWxc98 posted on YouTube] in the category "comedy", Harreld had a contentious discussion with one UI alum. The conflict was regarding his earlier statement that UI was not a "[[Public Ivy]]", information he said he got from Wikipedia, though the Wikipedia article on the university correctly identifies it as a Public Ivy. (Sept. 8) <small>[[User:Gamaliel|G]]</small> |
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*'''The Tamil Wikipedia sets a goal for 100k articles''': ''[[The Hindu]]'' [http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Madurai/tamil-wikipedia-invites-articles/article7624113.ece reports] on the efforts to recruit editors to work on the [[Tamil Wikipedia]]. |
*'''The Tamil Wikipedia sets a goal for 100k articles''': ''[[The Hindu]]'' [http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Madurai/tamil-wikipedia-invites-articles/article7624113.ece reports] on the efforts to recruit editors to work on the [[Tamil Wikipedia]]. ''[[The Times of India]]'' also [http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/madurai/1-lakh-Tamil-articles-to-come-up-on-Wikipedia/articleshow/48842690.cms reports] that the Tamil Wikipedia has set a goal to reach one hundred thousand articles over the next year. As of writing this, the Tamil Wikipedia has over 69 thousand articles. (Sept. 7) <small>[[User:Gamaliel|G]]</small> |
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*'''Harvard students host an edit-a-thon''': On September 7th, a group of eight Harvard undergrads assembled an edit-a-thon to improve and create feminist articles on Wikipedia. The Harvard student newspaper, ''[[The Harvard Crimson]]'', [http://www.thecrimson.com/article/2015/9/8/students-edit-wikipedia-feminists/ reported] on the event. (Sept. 7) <small>[[User:Tortle|T]]</small> |
*'''Harvard students host an edit-a-thon''': On September 7th, a group of eight Harvard undergrads assembled an edit-a-thon to improve and create feminist articles on Wikipedia. The Harvard student newspaper, ''[[The Harvard Crimson]]'', [http://www.thecrimson.com/article/2015/9/8/students-edit-wikipedia-feminists/ reported] on the event. (Sept. 7) <small>[[User:Tortle|T]]</small> |
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*'''Wikipedia founder backs site's systems after extortion scam''': ''[[The Guardian]]'' [http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2015/sep/06/wikipedia-founder-backs-sites-systems-after-extortion-scam interviewed] [[Jimmy Wales]] on last week's revelation of the |
*'''Wikipedia founder backs site's systems after extortion scam''': ''[[The Guardian]]'' [http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2015/sep/06/wikipedia-founder-backs-sites-systems-after-extortion-scam interviewed] [[Jimmy Wales]] on last week's revelation of the [[Wikipedia:Wikipedia_Signpost/2015-09-02/Special_report|Orangemoody paid editing extortion ring]]. Wales said: |
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{{Signpost pull quote|It was the result of an investigation into some suspicious behaviour uncovered by the community, which was followed up on to figure out what was going on. And we solved the problem by banning this cluster of accounts. For us, it’s a validation of how we do things: how it’s supposed to work.}} |
{{Signpost pull quote|It was the result of an investigation into some suspicious behaviour uncovered by the community, which was followed up on to figure out what was going on. And we solved the problem by banning this cluster of accounts. For us, it’s a validation of how we do things: how it’s supposed to work.}} |
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:(Sept. 6) <small>[[User:Gamaliel|G]]</small> |
:(Sept. 6) <small>[[User:Gamaliel|G]]</small> |
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{{signpost filler image|image=File:Cuauhtémoc Blanco-Dorados.jpg|caption=[[Cuauhtémoc Blanco]]}} |
{{signpost filler image|image=File:Cuauhtémoc Blanco-Dorados.jpg|caption=[[Cuauhtémoc Blanco]]}} |
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⚫ | *'''Mayoral plagiarism''': ''MedioTiempo'' [http://www.mediotiempo.com/futbol/mexico/noticias/2015/09/06/cuau-sera-alcalde-con-cv-de-wikipedia reports] that former [[Association football|football]] star [[Cuauhtémoc Blanco]] plagiarized entire sections of the article about him on the [[Spanish Wikipedia]] in his registration paperwork for the mayoral race in [[Cuernavaca]], the capital of [[Morelos]], Mexico. |
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⚫ | *'''Bandits''': ''[[The Daily Beast]]'' reports on how Cuban pianist Dayramir González was "[http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2015/09/05/i-was-shaken-down-by-wikipedia-s-blackmail-bandits.html Shaken Down by Wikipedia’s Blackmail Bandits]". |
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⚫ | *'''Mayoral plagiarism''': ''MedioTiempo'' [http://www.mediotiempo.com/futbol/mexico/noticias/2015/09/06/cuau-sera-alcalde-con-cv-de-wikipedia reports] that former [[Association football|football]] star [[Cuauhtémoc Blanco]] plagiarized entire sections of the article about him on the [[Spanish Wikipedia]] in his registration paperwork for the mayoral race in [[Cuernavaca]], the capital of [[Morelos]], Mexico. Blanco won the June 7 election and will assume office on January 1. (Sept. 6) <small>[[User:Gamaliel|G]]</small> |
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⚫ | *'''Who will save your soul?''': In the ''[[Financial Times]]'', [[Murad Ahmed]] writes about "[http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/50eddade-5256-11e5-8642-453585f2cfcd.html Wikipedia’s struggle to save its soul]" in the wake of recent revelations of paid editing like the Orangemoody ring and the |
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⚫ | *'''Bandits''': ''[[The Daily Beast]]'' reports on how Cuban pianist Dayramir González was "[http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2015/09/05/i-was-shaken-down-by-wikipedia-s-blackmail-bandits.html Shaken Down by Wikipedia’s Blackmail Bandits]". González was one of the victims of the [[Wikipedia:Wikipedia_Signpost/2015-09-02/Special_report|Orangemoody scam]]. The ''Beast'' notes that his "story is special among most of the other targets because he meets Wikipedia’s standards for [[WP:NOTABILITY|notability]]." The article concerning him was deleted. (Sept. 5) <small>[[User:Gamaliel|G]]</small> |
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⚫ | *'''Who will save your soul?''': In the ''[[Financial Times]]'', [[Murad Ahmed]] writes about "[http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/50eddade-5256-11e5-8642-453585f2cfcd.html Wikipedia’s struggle to save its soul]" in the wake of the recent revelations of paid editing like the [[Wikipedia:Wikipedia_Signpost/2015-09-02/Special_report|Orangemoody ring]] and the [[[[Wikipedia:Wikipedia_Signpost/2015-06-24/In_the_media|coverage|Sunshine Sachs controversy]] as well as the declining numbers of active editors. Ahmed concludes: |
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{{Signpost pull quote|without its fact-checkers, faith in Wikipedia’s information will fade. Its survival depends on people keen to continue to contribute freely to the sum of human knowledge. The fear is the motivations of those with money will outlast the interest of editors without it. Self-serving changes to the pages of billionaires, companies or talent show contestants go unnoticed — and so, for many, become truth. Without reinforcements, the bright line cannot hold for ever.}} |
{{Signpost pull quote|without its fact-checkers, faith in Wikipedia’s information will fade. Its survival depends on people keen to continue to contribute freely to the sum of human knowledge. The fear is the motivations of those with money will outlast the interest of editors without it. Self-serving changes to the pages of billionaires, companies or talent show contestants go unnoticed — and so, for many, become truth. Without reinforcements, the bright line cannot hold for ever.}} |
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:(Sept. 4) <small>[[User:Gamaliel|G]]</small> |
:(Sept. 4) <small>[[User:Gamaliel|G]]</small> |
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*'''Jimmy Wales on China's block of Wikipedia''': [[GreatFire]], a non-profit organization monitoring [[internet censorship in China]], [https://en.greatfire.org/blog/2015/sep/greatfire-qa-jimmy-wales-china-censorship interviewed] Jimmy Wales. The [[Chinese Wikipedia]] has been blocked in China since May. Wales said: |
*'''Jimmy Wales on China's block of Wikipedia''': [[GreatFire]], a non-profit organization monitoring [[internet censorship in China]], [https://en.greatfire.org/blog/2015/sep/greatfire-qa-jimmy-wales-china-censorship interviewed] [[Jimmy Wales]]. The [[Chinese Wikipedia]] has been blocked in China since May. Wales said: |
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{{Signpost pull quote|I think our approach has been better than anyone's ... I am most proud that we have always been 100% uncompromising, and better than any other major website on these issues.}} |
{{Signpost pull quote|I think our approach has been better than anyone's ... I am most proud that we have always been 100% uncompromising, and better than any other major website on these issues.}} |
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:(Sept. 4) <small>[[User:Gamaliel|G]]</small> |
:(Sept. 4) <small>[[User:Gamaliel|G]]</small> |
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*'''Critical eye''': In ''[[The Conversation (website)|The Conversation]]'', academic Taha Yasseri, a former checkuser in the [[Persian Wikipedia]], [https://theconversation.com/using-wikipedia-as-pr-is-a-problem-but-our-lack-of-a-critical-eye-is-worse-47045 argues] that "using Wikipedia as PR is a problem, but our lack of a critical eye is worse": |
*'''Critical eye''': In ''[[The Conversation (website)|The Conversation]]'', academic Taha Yasseri, a former checkuser in the [[Persian Wikipedia]], [https://theconversation.com/using-wikipedia-as-pr-is-a-problem-but-our-lack-of-a-critical-eye-is-worse-47045 argues] that "using Wikipedia as PR is a problem, but our lack of a critical eye is worse." She also stated: |
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{{Signpost pull quote|Our own research has shown that scholars with Wikipedia articles have no greater statistically significant scientific impact than those without. So why do some appear on Wikipedia while others do not? The reason is clear: because many of those entries are written by themselves or their students or colleagues. It’s important that this aspect of Wikipedia should be communicated to those reading it, and remembered every single time you’re using it.}} |
{{Signpost pull quote|Our own research has shown that scholars with Wikipedia articles have no greater statistically significant scientific impact than those without. So why do some appear on Wikipedia while others do not? The reason is clear: because many of those entries are written by themselves or their students or colleagues. It’s important that this aspect of Wikipedia should be communicated to those reading it, and remembered every single time you’re using it.}} |
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:(Sept. 4) <small>[[User:Jayen466|AK]]</small> |
:(Sept. 4) <small>[[User:Jayen466|AK]]</small> |
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{{signpost filler image|image=File:Google Knowledge Panel.png|caption=The Google [[Knowledge Graph]]}} |
{{signpost filler image|image=File:Google Knowledge Panel.png|caption=The Google [[Knowledge Graph]]}} |
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*'''Is the Google Knowledge Graph killing Wikipedia?''': In ''[[Forbes]]'', Jayson DeMers [http://www.forbes.com/sites/jaysondemers/2015/09/03/is-the-google-knowledge-graph-killing-wikipedia/ wonders] if the Google [[Knowledge Graph]] is killing Wikipedia. The drop in traffic [[Google]] directs towards Wikipedia may be a result of the Knowledge Graph answering many basic queries. (Sept. 4) <small>[[User:Gamaliel|G]]</small> |
*'''Is the Google Knowledge Graph killing Wikipedia?''': In ''[[Forbes]]'', Jayson DeMers [http://www.forbes.com/sites/jaysondemers/2015/09/03/is-the-google-knowledge-graph-killing-wikipedia/ wonders] if the Google [[Knowledge Graph]] is killing Wikipedia. The drop in traffic that [[Google]] directs towards Wikipedia may be a result of the Knowledge Graph answering many basic queries. (Sept. 4) <small>[[User:Gamaliel|G]]</small> |
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*'''Stay positive''': The [[Associated Press]] [http://www.usnews.com/news/politics/articles/2015/09/03/capitol-hill-buzz-polishing-senators-images-on-wikipedia reports] on a new study published in ''[[PLOS One]]'' called "[http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0136327 Editorial Bias in Crowd-Sourced Political Information]", by Joshua L. Kalla of |
*'''Stay positive''': The [[Associated Press]] [http://www.usnews.com/news/politics/articles/2015/09/03/capitol-hill-buzz-polishing-senators-images-on-wikipedia reports] on a new study published in ''[[PLOS One]]'' called "[http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0136327 Editorial Bias in Crowd-Sourced Political Information]", by Joshua L. Kalla of [[University of California, Berkeley]] and Peter M. Aronow of [[Yale University]]. Prior to the [[United States Senate elections, 2014|2014 US Senate elections]], the authors added positive and negative accurate facts to Wikipedia articles of sitting US Senators. Their study found that "Negative facts are 36% more likely to be removed by Wikipedia editors than positive facts within 12 hours and 29% more likely within 3 days." They also found that the bias towards positivity was solely for incumbents. When replicating the experiment for the articles of retired and deceased Senators, they found that the reaction to the edits was not similarly skewed. (Sept. 3) <small>[[User:Gamaliel|G]]</small> |
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*'''Industrial-scale blackmail''': ''[[The Register]]'' describes the Orangemoody case as "Wikipedia’s biggest scandal" and [http://www.theregister.co.uk/2015/09/03/wikipedia_industrial_scale_smears_and_blackmail/?page=1 attributes the problem] to Wikipedia's overriding commitment to anonymity: |
*'''Industrial-scale blackmail''': ''[[The Register]]'' describes the [[Wikipedia:Wikipedia_Signpost/2015-09-02/Special_report|Orangemoody case]] as "Wikipedia’s biggest scandal" and [http://www.theregister.co.uk/2015/09/03/wikipedia_industrial_scale_smears_and_blackmail/?page=1 attributes the problem] to Wikipedia's overriding commitment to anonymity: |
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{{Signpost pull quote|Wikipedia appears to be a miracle of collaboration – but without the right kind of governance structures, it was always ripe for gaming. There’s no reason a collaborative project should inevitably be gamed, if the necessary checks and procedures to prevent it are in place. But this is Wikipedia’s biggest problem: it prefers protecting its contributors above any other ethical concern. Given the choice between doing the right thing (producing a better Wikipedia) and protecting anonymity, the Wikipedia community has chosen anonymity every time.}} |
{{Signpost pull quote|Wikipedia appears to be a miracle of collaboration – but without the right kind of governance structures, it was always ripe for gaming. There’s no reason a collaborative project should inevitably be gamed, if the necessary checks and procedures to prevent it are in place. But this is Wikipedia’s biggest problem: it prefers protecting its contributors above any other ethical concern. Given the choice between doing the right thing (producing a better Wikipedia) and protecting anonymity, the Wikipedia community has chosen anonymity every time.}} |
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:(Sept. 3) <small>[[User:Jayen466|AK]]</small> |
:(Sept. 3) <small>[[User:Jayen466|AK]]</small> |
Revision as of 23:35, 10 September 2015
Article display preview: | This is a draft of a potential Signpost article, and should not be interpreted as a finished piece. Its content is subject to review by the editorial team and ultimately by JPxG, the editor in chief. Please do not link to this draft as it is unfinished and the URL will change upon publication. If you would like to contribute and are familiar with the requirements of a Signpost article, feel free to be bold in making improvements!
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Calling all scientists!
Prompted by the recent Wikipedia Science Conference in London, Nature interviewed Martin Poulter, an organizer of the conference, concerning Wikipedia's new outreach to scientists and as to the reason why they're not embracing the recent call to action. Poulter believes that scientists are deterred by the idea of anyone being able to edit Wikipedia and that because they do not trust it as a reliable source, they are less likely to get involved: Template:Signpost pull quote Poulter also believes that scientists and academics aren't getting involved in the process due to the fact that many of them have busy lives and are deterred by the "petty" time-wasting conversations and edit-wars. (Sept. 7) T
In brief
- Wikipedia can be used to detect search trend data: The Stack recently reported a new Japanese study. The study shows an example where a page view statistics graph of the Anne Hathaway article on Wikipedia will closely mimic a Google Trends graph of searching "Anne Hathaway" on Google. It was decided that this method can be used to estimate search statistics for less popular subjects not covered by Google Trends. T
- Politics and religion: The New York Observer was the latest publication to do a round-up of the most edited Wikipedia pages. (Sept. 8) AK
- Embattled President: In Slate, University of Iowa Professor Kembrew McLeod writes about the embattled incoming UI President Bruce Harreld, who has come under fire for his error-filled resume and complete lack of higher education experience. At an introductory talk and Q&A, which McLeod posted on YouTube in the category "comedy", Harreld had a contentious discussion with one UI alum. The conflict was regarding his earlier statement that UI was not a "Public Ivy", information he said he got from Wikipedia, though the Wikipedia article on the university correctly identifies it as a Public Ivy. (Sept. 8) G
- The Tamil Wikipedia sets a goal for 100k articles: The Hindu reports on the efforts to recruit editors to work on the Tamil Wikipedia. The Times of India also reports that the Tamil Wikipedia has set a goal to reach one hundred thousand articles over the next year. As of writing this, the Tamil Wikipedia has over 69 thousand articles. (Sept. 7) G
- Harvard students host an edit-a-thon: On September 7th, a group of eight Harvard undergrads assembled an edit-a-thon to improve and create feminist articles on Wikipedia. The Harvard student newspaper, The Harvard Crimson, reported on the event. (Sept. 7) T
- Wikipedia founder backs site's systems after extortion scam: The Guardian interviewed Jimmy Wales on last week's revelation of the Orangemoody paid editing extortion ring. Wales said:
- (Sept. 6) G
- Mayoral plagiarism: MedioTiempo reports that former football star Cuauhtémoc Blanco plagiarized entire sections of the article about him on the Spanish Wikipedia in his registration paperwork for the mayoral race in Cuernavaca, the capital of Morelos, Mexico. Blanco won the June 7 election and will assume office on January 1. (Sept. 6) G
- Bandits: The Daily Beast reports on how Cuban pianist Dayramir González was "Shaken Down by Wikipedia’s Blackmail Bandits". González was one of the victims of the Orangemoody scam. The Beast notes that his "story is special among most of the other targets because he meets Wikipedia’s standards for notability." The article concerning him was deleted. (Sept. 5) G
- Who will save your soul?: In the Financial Times, Murad Ahmed writes about "Wikipedia’s struggle to save its soul" in the wake of the recent revelations of paid editing like the Orangemoody ring and the [[coverage|Sunshine Sachs controversy as well as the declining numbers of active editors. Ahmed concludes:
- (Sept. 4) G
- Jimmy Wales on China's block of Wikipedia: GreatFire, a non-profit organization monitoring internet censorship in China, interviewed Jimmy Wales. The Chinese Wikipedia has been blocked in China since May. Wales said:
- (Sept. 4) G
- Critical eye: In The Conversation, academic Taha Yasseri, a former checkuser in the Persian Wikipedia, argues that "using Wikipedia as PR is a problem, but our lack of a critical eye is worse." She also stated:
- (Sept. 4) AK
- Is the Google Knowledge Graph killing Wikipedia?: In Forbes, Jayson DeMers wonders if the Google Knowledge Graph is killing Wikipedia. The drop in traffic that Google directs towards Wikipedia may be a result of the Knowledge Graph answering many basic queries. (Sept. 4) G
- Stay positive: The Associated Press reports on a new study published in PLOS One called "Editorial Bias in Crowd-Sourced Political Information", by Joshua L. Kalla of University of California, Berkeley and Peter M. Aronow of Yale University. Prior to the 2014 US Senate elections, the authors added positive and negative accurate facts to Wikipedia articles of sitting US Senators. Their study found that "Negative facts are 36% more likely to be removed by Wikipedia editors than positive facts within 12 hours and 29% more likely within 3 days." They also found that the bias towards positivity was solely for incumbents. When replicating the experiment for the articles of retired and deceased Senators, they found that the reaction to the edits was not similarly skewed. (Sept. 3) G
- Industrial-scale blackmail: The Register describes the Orangemoody case as "Wikipedia’s biggest scandal" and attributes the problem to Wikipedia's overriding commitment to anonymity:
- (Sept. 3) AK
Discuss this story
Paid editing rules misrepresented
Peteforsyth wrote a worthwhile critique of the Financial Times piece: "Wikipedia cofounder misrepresents the site’s rules on paid editing". Jimmy Wales responded on Facebook. Andreas JN466 15:43, 10 September 2015 (UTC)[reply]
There is no decline in referrals from Google
I should note that my team's analysis group did some analysis of referrer traffic and produced this report. We found that referrals from Google have been increasing in the past few months. I'm unsure what data these news pieces on the decline of traffic from Google to Wikipedia are using, but it would appear to be incorrect. --Dan Garry, Wikimedia Foundation (talk) 20:06, 11 September 2015 (UTC)[reply]
Cite required
"the reason why they're not embracing the recent call to action"
Having been in "the sciences world" for some time now, I'd like to posit the real reason is that scientists, generally, don't like to write. Oh sure, a peer reviewed paper written in completely dense prose is a requirement of the job, but a clear explanation of a topic is something they find little time to do for their own students, let alone anyone else. I'm certainly not the first to say this, I recall articles in Discover! complaining about this in the 1980s, but it seems there's more than enough excuses to go around and this is just the latest one.
Maury Markowitz (talk) 20:21, 11 September 2015 (UTC)[reply]
Dayramir Gonzalez
An article about Mr. Gonzalez had been in Draftspace since 30 April; it was moved to mainspace on 14 September. -- John Broughton (♫♫) 00:00, 16 September 2015 (UTC)[reply]